At midday on Monday, Wall Street was running behind due to less than desirable corporate earnings reports as well as investor uncertainty about events in the Middle East. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were each 0.2 percent lower at mid-session, to 11,194.88 and 1,275.46 respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.3 percent to 2,088.29.

Among the companies issuing disappointing quarterly reports were Avon and Tyson Foods. Cosmetics maker Avon was down 9.3 percent to $29.75 after it said its profits dropped by 54 percent in the second quarter. It blamed most of the decline on costs incurred during a restructuring. Meanwhile, Tyson Foods reported that it lost $52 million in the second quarter, more than had been expected. Tyson dropped 2.3 percent to $14.23.

On the other hand, health insurer Humana added 5.3 percent to $54.28 on a quarterly report that was better than had been expected.

Office Depot also had an earnings report, issued on Friday, that topped analyst estimates. By noon on Monday the office supplies retailer had added 5.4 percent to $36.20.

Coal producers were also having a good day after Merrill Lynch said that there would be more demand for coal as other energy sources cost increasingly more. Peabody Energy was 6.2 percent higher to $48.89, while Arch Coal added 7.2 percent to $37.18.

On reports that it might be purchased by Grupo Mexico, miner Phelps Dodge gained 7.2 percent to $87.40.

Computer makers were mixed on the day. Dell was 2.5 percent lower to $21.66. On the other hand, Apple Computer added 3.6 percent to $67.96 after it was upgraded from “neutral” to “buy” from Bank of America.

Wall Street was higher at midday on Thursday despite major declines in the health insurance sector. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.7 percent higher at mid-session to 11,174.87, while the Nasdaq Composite had gained 0.5 percent to 2,081.01 and the S&P 500 was up by 0.4 percent to 1,272.92.

Semiconductors were higher, with National Semiconductor 4.8 percent higher to $22.55 and Broadcom gaining 4.9 percent to $23.04.

Cable tv provider Comcast added 5.3 percent to $34.25 after it reported that profits were up 7 percent in the second quarter and it upped its subscriber growth forecast for the year.

Symantec was up 10.3 percent to $17.42 even though the maker of anti-virus software reported that its profits were down by 52 percent in its first quarter, with operating expenses more than doubled. The gain came because the results were better than had been expected.

Health insurer Aetna dropped 19.8 percent to $32.03 on a 1 percent decline in earnings in the second quarter, but even more due to investor concerns about large claims on its Stop-Loss product. The rest of the sector was also lower. Cigna fell by 7.1 percent to $96.81, while Humana was 4.5 percent lower to $53.97 and United Healthcare dropped 4.2 percent to $48.43.

Dow Chemical was down 9.6 percent to $33.70 after it reported that second-quarter earnings were 19 percent lower because record revenues had been offset by higher prices for fuel.