Markets Open Flat As Jobless Claims Climb

The markets opened flat with the Dow edging up a fraction to 11,096 as initial applications for unemployment benefits climbed. Nasdaq added a fraction to 2442.

On the upside

The Wall Street Journal reported that AOL (NYSE: AOL) may partner with several private equity firms to acquire Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO).

EMC (NYSE: EMC) announced that its Momentum Europe 2010 conference will be held October 25-28, 2010 in Lisbon, Portugal.

ZAGG (Nasdaq: ZAGG) cited better than expected demand of its invisibleSHIELD mobile device cover for forecasting third quarter revenue above analyst expectations.

On the downside

Apollo Group (Nasdaq: APOL) withdrew its 2011 guidance saying that enrollment may drop as much as 40% due to new regulatory rules.

Shares of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup (NYSE: C) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) all fell as all fifty state attorneys general investigate foreclosure practices.

Grupo Televisa (NYSE: TV) may cancel a deal with NII Holdings (Nasdaq: NIHD) unit Nextel to develop a wireless network in Mexico. 

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 10 to 9 on the NYSE and by 10 to 9 on Nasdaq.