The markets closed flat with the Dow easing a point to 11,094 as anticipation of Federal Reserve action to jumpstart the economy tempered news of higher jobless claims and rising wholesale prices. Nasdaq slipped 5 points to 2435.
On the upside
Shares of mortgage insurers MBIA (NYSE: MBI), Ambac Financial Group (NYSE: ABK) and Radian Group (NYSE: RDN) all soared as banks suspended foreclosures to review inaccurate paperwork.
Rising silver prices lifted shares of Silvercorp Metals (NYSE: SVM).
Deutsche Bank analyst Rod Lache upgraded Ford (NYSE: F) to a Buy rating and lifted his price target to $19.50 saying that North American auto industry will recover.
On the downside
Winnebago (Nasdaq: WGO) reversed year ago losses to post a better than expected profit for the fourth quarter but the stock price fell as the recreational vehicle maker remained cautious about retail growth.
Motorola (NYSE: MOT) admitted that the 2.2 upgrade for the Droid X contained a number of bugs.
Shares of for-profit educators Corinthian Colleges (Nasdaq: COCO), Career Education (Nasdaq: CECO), DeVry (NYSE: DV) and ITT Educational Services(NYSE: ESI) all plunged after Apollo Group (Nasdaq: APOL) warned that enrollment numbers will drop sharply.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 3 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 4 on Nasdaq.
