Mid-Day Report

The markets extended its gains during the midday over optimism that congressional leaders will hammer out a palatable bailout package.  The Dow soared 276 points to 10,642 while Nasdaq leaped 64 points to 2048.

On the upside

A judge ruled that Hexion Specialty Chemicals must complete its acquisition of Huntsman (NYSE: HUN).

Shares of National City (NYSE: NCC) recovered after yesterday's collapse as congressional leaders attempted to revive negotiations for the failed bailout package.

Despite a downgrade by Robert W. Baird & Co. analyst David George, Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq: FITB) surged.

On the downside

While A. P. Pharma (Nasdaq: APPA) reported that its drug for chemotherapy induced nausea met the main goal of a late stage clinical trial, the treatment failed to demonstrate superiority over a rival drug.

Allied Capital (NYSE: ALD) unit Ciena Capital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection saying that the value of its assets have plunged due to the financial crisis.

Shares of OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX) tumbled as consumers spent less for discretionary items.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 4 on Nasdaq.  The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks climbed 9 points to 666.