The New York markets ended mixed on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost over 20 points to end 0.15 percent lower at 13,892.54 after falling more than 130 points in earlier trade, but the Nasdaq Composite added 1.04 percent to 2,792.67 and the S&P 500 gained 0.18 percent to 1,541.24.

The Nasdaq was helped by gains for chipmaker Intel (NAS: INTC; SEHK: 4335), which was up $1.24 to $26.72 after it said its earnings were up by 43 percent in the third quarter.

Yahoo (NAS:YHOO) was also higher, adding $2.13 to $28.82 after its third quarter profits were down less than had been anticipated.

Declines came on losses by IBM (NYSE: IBM), which fell $3.82 to $115.78 even though it said earnings were up by 6 percent, more than expected, after software revenue only added 3 percent in the quarter.

Manufacturer United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) was also lower, dropping $2.85 to $76.80 even though its profits were up by 20 percent in the third quarter after it said it sees the US economy slowing.

In the banking sector, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM; TYO: 8634) added $1.26 to $46.37 when it managed a 2 percent gain in profits in the third quarter even though it took losses related to home loans and corporate debt.

Wall Street was mixed Thursday, with the Nasdaq higher but the Dow and S&P in decline.

By the end of the session, the Nasdaq managed to hold on to some gains, ending 0.08 percent higher to 2,565.30, while the Dow ended 0.38 percent lower to 13,238.73 and the S&P 500 closed at 1,457.64, a decline of 0.42 percent.

Research in Motion (NAS: RIMM; TSX: RIM), maker of the BlackBerry, added $1.05 to close at $82.87 on new rumors that Microsoft (NAS: MSFT) could be interested in making a bid. Microsoft dropped 14 cents to $28.45.

Cisco Systems (NAS: CSCO) closed up 43 cents to $31.43, while IBM (NYSE: IBM) gained 80 cents to $115.37 and Apple (NAS: AAPL) was up $2.17 to $136.25.

In the retail sector, Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) dropped 87 cents to close at $43.32 after Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER; TYO: 8675) used worries about operating margins to cut its recommendation on the discount retailer from “neutral” to “sell”.

Home improvement retailers, however, were higher on the session. Lowe’s (NYSE: LOW) was up 12 cents to $30.27, while Home Depot (NYSE: HD) added 49 cents to $37.04.

The New York equities markets were lower in early afternoon trade on Monday after new data showed existing home sales dropped and inventories were higher in July.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.22 percent lower to 13,349.93, while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 0.49 percent to 2,564.19 and the S&P 500 fell 0.63 percent to 1,469.99.

The National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales were 0.2 percent lower in July, while inventories were up by 5.1 percent to 4.59 million homes, a new record.

In addition, home prices were down in July for the 12th consecutive time, by 0.6 percent from a year ago to a median price of $230,200.

Sales were up in the West and Northeast but were static in the South and down by 2.2 percent in the Midwest.

Meanwhile home improvement retailer Home Depot (NYSE: HD) added 61 cents to $35.29 after it reached a deal to sell its wholesale unit to a consortium of three private equity firms at a price that was lower than originally planned and requires Home Depot to guarantee $1 billion of the debt the buyers will assume to close the deal.

In other deal news, Taiwan computer manufacturer Acer (TSEC: 2353; LSE: ACID) will pay $170 million for Gateway Inc (NYSE: GTW).

Gateway added 60 cents, or 49 percent, to $1.80.

Elsewhere in the computer sector IBM (NYSE: IBM) added 52 cents to $113.76, but Dell (NAS: DELL; SEHK: 4331) fell 4 cents to $27.70, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) dropped 7 cents to $48.03 and Apple (NAS: AAPL; LSE: ACP; FWB: APC) was down $1.66 to $133.64.

Wall Street was lower in afternoon trade Friday after the US Federal Reserve made two injections of cash into the market during the day, one of $19 billion, followed by $16 billion more.

These came on the heels of two separate cash additions into the market on Thursday, totaling $24 billion.

There is some sentiment that the Fed might issue an emergency interest rate cut in response to the current difficulties in the US markets, although some analysts believe the Fed will hold on until September’s scheduled meeting to issue a rate cut.

Others call a cut now “counterproductive”, saying it could weaken the dollar and cause more harm than good.

In early afternoon trade in New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.04 percent to 13,132.4, while the Nasdaq Composite had dropped 1 percent to 2,530.95 and the S&P 500 was 0.81 percent lower to 1,441.28.

Most of the financial services sector was lower, but Bank of America (NYSE: BAC; TYO: 8648) had added 14 cents to $48.49.

Citigroup (NYSE: C) had dropped 13 cents to $46.77, while JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM; TYO: 8634) fell 33 cents to $43.85.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) was $1.36 lower to $60.45 and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) had fallen $3.41 to $178.84.

Mortgage lender Countrywide Financial (NYSE: CFC) dropped $1.65 to $27.01 after saying in a regulatory filing on Thursday that the current trouble in the credit and subprime mortgage markets could hurt its short-term prospects.

Elsewhere, the aerospace sector was also lower.

Honeywell (NYSE: HON) was down $1.18 to $55.60, while Boeing (NYSE: BA; TYO: 7661) fell $1.43 to $96.87.

Among the few gainers in early afternoon trade were chipmaker Intel (NAS: INTC; SEHK: 4335), which had added 25 cents to $24.17.

In the computers sector, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) was up 92 cents to $47.94 and IBM (NYSE: IBM) had gained $1.78 to $112.51.

ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) was up 65 cents to $84.25.

Wall Street was higher in early afternoon trade on Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.51 percent higher to 13,988.95, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.81 percent to 2,721.3 and the S&P 500 was up 0.43 percent to 1,552.85.

Earnings news was in focus as IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Juniper Networks (NAS: JNPR) both reported.

IBM said that second quarter profits were up with help from its software division and services business.

It also raised its profit forecast for this year, sending shares up $4.74 to $115.82.

Network equipment manufacturer Juniper, meanwhile, also said profits rose in the second quarter and upped its earnings outlook for the full year, adding $3.24 to $29.97.

Elsewhere in the computer sector, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) added $1.57 to $48.71.

Google (NAS: GOOG; LSE: GGEA), Microsoft (NAS: MSFT), and Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) were all scheduled to report after the close of trade on Thursday.

Google was $2.30 lower to $547.20, but Advanced Micro Devices was up 27 cents to $15.73 and Microsoft had added 57 cents to $31.49.

The internet sector was lower.

Ebay (NAS: EBAY) was down 53 cents to $33.52 after it did not change its full-year outlook. Meanwhile, Yahoo (NAS: YHOO) dropped 14 cents to $26.06.

The New York equities markets were mostly steady at midday. Both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were even, at 12,211.43 and 1,394.66 respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.3 percent lower to 2,377.45. Shares in oil companies were higher as crude oil prices gained after new inventories reports showed that crude stockpiles fell by more than expected last week. Investor sentiment was hurt, however, by data showing that job growth in the private sector was not as robust as had been hoped.

In the oil sector, Chevron (NYSE: CVX) added 1.3 percent to $68.52, while ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) was 2.2 percent higher to $67.15. While crude oil inventories dropped significantly against expectations of an advance last week, most of the decline was due to bad weather on the US Gulf Coast and inventories are expected to rebound this week.

Computer related stocks were mixed. Internet search engine Google (NAS: GOOG; LSE: GGEA) was down 0.3 percent at midday to $456.18 even though UBS (NYSE: UBS; SWX: UBSN; TYO: 8657) issued an upgrade to “buy”, from “neutral” on the company’s shares. IBM (NYSE: IBM) was 0.3 percent higher to $94.12 but Cisco (NAS: CSCO; SEHK: 4333) dropped 1 percent to $25.69 on reports that the two companies were collaborating on software development projects.

In the retail sector, American Eagle Outfitters (NAS: AEOS) fell 3.8 percent to $28.69 after the clothing retailer did not meet earnings estimates. On the other hand, office supply retailer Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) added 2.1 percent to $34.35 on an upgrade from “hold” to “buy” from Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB).

Wall Street was mixed at midday on Friday as some quarterly reports failed to inspire investors.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.21 percent lower to 12,541.50, while the Nasdaq Composite had added 0.04 percent to 2,444.11 and the S&P 500 was 0.11 percent higher to 1,427.87.

IBM dropped $3.82 to $95.63 even though it reported profits that were better than anticipated in the fourth quarter.  A portion of the increase in profits was due to a change in IBM’s tax rates.  Meanwhile, General Electric dropped 79 cents to $37.21 on disappointing results in its fiscal first quarter.

Citigroup also saw declines, with its share price dropping 34 cents to $54.05 due to a 26 percent decrease in profits in the fourth quarter.

Motorola added 67 cents to $19.38.  It had warned in January that its fourth quarter profits would not meet expectations due to discounts on mobile phones.  And, indeed, its earnings were lower, but turned out to be better than the warnings had led investors to expect.

Mergers and acquisitions also played into the days results.  Morgan Stanley added 55 cents to $81.76 after its real estate unit said it would buy hotel real-estate investment trust CNL Hotel & Resorts, spending $3.13 billion on the transaction.  Abbott Laboratories added 61 cents to $53.40, its highest share price in a year, after it said it will sell part of its medical testing division to General Electric.

The New York equities markets were mixed at midday on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were each 0.2 percent lower, to 12,396.81 and 1,409.64 respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite was 0.1 percent higher to 2,445.49.

The oil sector was sent lower by the slide in crude oil prices. Hess dropped 1.1 percent to $47.68, while ExxonMobil fell 1.4 percent to $71.05, and Chevron was 1.7 percent lower to $69.43 after it downgraded its earnings projections for the fourth quarter. ConocoPhillips was down 2.4 percent to $65.89 and Occidental Petroleum fell 3.1 percent to $42.32.

The computer sector was mixed. IBM dropped 1.9 percent to $98.14 on a broker downgrade, but Apple Computer gained 4.6 percent to $97.12 after reaching a new all-time high of $97.80 earlier in the session on excitement about Tuesday’s launch of its new iPhone.

Airlines were higher after US Airways upped its offer for Delta Air Lines to $10.2 billion. US Air added 1.7 percent to $58.86, while Delta was 5.4 percent higher to $1.37.

Aluminium producer Alcoa gained 4.2 percent to $29.71 after its fourth-quarter report showed a profit of 74 cents per share for the quarter, better than earlier estimates of 65 cents per share.

The New York equities markets were higher at midday on Monday, helped out by falling oil prices. The Dow Jones Industrial average was 0.5 percent higher to 12,256.78, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 1.3 percent to 2,444.20 and the S&P 500 had added 0.6 percent to 1,405.15. The small-cap Russell 2000 index was up 1.6 percent to 793.32, just below its all-time high.

In the financial services sector, Bank of New York said it will purchase Mellon Financial for $16.5 billion, all in stock. If the deal is closed, it will create the largest financial assets service company, with control of around $16,000 billion. Bank of New York had added 11.1 percent on the news by the middle of the day to $39.41, while Mellon gained 4.4 percent to $42.27.

Station Casinos added 18.7 percent to $82.02 and was up to $82.28 earlier in the day after it said it has received a bid from a group of investors headed by the chairman and chief executive of the company. The offer was said to be worth $4.7 billion.

IBM was 1.6 percent higher to $92.73 on positive notice from the press over the weekend.

The pharmaceuticals sector saw declines after Pfizer and Onyx Pharmaceuticals each received bad news about drugs in trials. Pfizer fell 11.8 percent to $24.58 after dropping as low as $23.52 on the announcement that it has abandoned development of its Torcetrapib, intended to treat high cholesterol, after patients in trials had a high incidence of deaths and cardiovascular events. Meanwhile, Onyx dropped 28.9 percent to $12.44 on the announcement that Nexavar, a drug for the treatment of kidney cancer, had not helped skin cancer patients in trials.

There was good news and bad news on Wall Street on Wednesday. The good news was that the Dow Jones Industrial Average went above 12,000 for the first time in history, early in the session, before dropping back to end the day 0.36 percent higher to 11,992.68. The bad news was that it could not hold above 12,000 due to unfavorable earnings reports from the Apollo Group and Motorola. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite ended the session 0.3 percent lower to 2,337.15, while the S&P 500 closed at 1,365.96, a gain of 0.1 percent.

Motorola dropped 4.9 percent to $23.64 after it reported that its third quarter revenues were 17 percent higher to $10.6 billion. The decline was attributed revenues not reaching levels anticipated by analysts and in-company estimates.

Apollo Group reported that quarterly earnings were down and said that an investigation into how it grants stock options had found problems. The news sent the for-profit education company’s shares 22.9 percent lower to $37.55.

The semiconductors sector saw declines, as well. The exception was Intel, which added 1 percent to $21.11 even though it reported that quarterly earnings were down. Despite the decline, earnings did better than had been anticipated. Elsewhere in the sector, Analog Devices was 3.6 percent lower to $29.68, while EMC dropped 4.1 percent to $12.18 on a decline in quarterly profits and Applied Materials was 4.6 percent lower to $17.82.

IBM did better, adding 3.3 percent to $89.82 on better earnings than had been predicted. Also helping the computer maker higher was an upgrade from “neutral” to “buy” from Goldman Sachs.

Yahoo was instrumental in the day’s decline for the Nasdaq, dropping 4.8 percent to $22.99 on a quarterly report that did not meet expectations and which brought a downgrade from “outperform” to “market perform” from Piper Jaffray.