Markets Open Down As Unemployment Rate Jumps
An unexpected jump in the nation's unemployment rate weighed the markets down to a lower open with the Dow losing 22 points to 11,339. Nasdaq slipped 3 points to 2576.
On the upside
Dryships (Nasdaq: DRYS) raised approximately $350 million through an ATM Equity Offering and announced that subsidiary Ocean Rig will raise approximately $500 million through a private placement offering.
Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) will integrate its mobile payment solution with CASSIS International's Trusted Service Manager to offer a secure mobile application allowing customers to use their mobile phones as wallets.
Power-One (Nasdaq: PWER) introduced its new 250kW and 500kW utility grade central inverters for the Asian markets.
On the downside
The Food and Drug Administration said that Orexigen Therapeutics' (Nasdaq: OREX) weight loss pill Contrave failed to meet all of the regulatory agency's guidelines.
Third quarter earnings for Big Lots (NYSE: BIG) tumbled to fall short of expectations.
Teekay Offshore Partners (NYSE: TOO) priced its follow-on offering of 5.6 million common units at $27.84 per unit.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 10 to 9 on the NYSE and by 9 to 7 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks eased a fraction to 750.
