Upbeat earnings lifted the markets to a higher open with the Dow gaining 50 points to 12,807. Nasdaq rose 5 points to 2823.
On the upside
Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) will pay approximately $1.16 billion in cash to acquire Micromet (Nasdaq: MITI).
Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) reported lower fourth quarter earnings but the video subscription service added 600,000 customers prompting an upgrade.
LSI (NYSE: LSI) narrowed fourth quarter losses and forecast first quarter results ahead of estimates.
On the downside
Fourth quarter earnings for SanDisk (Nasdaq: SNDK) tumbled as expenses climbed and the flash memory maker warned of weakness in the first half of 2012.
Goldman Sachs downgraded E-trade Financial (Nasdaq: ETFC) after the online brokerage fell to an unexpected fourth quarter loss.
Monster Worldwide (NYSE: MWW) reported higher fourth quarter earnings but the results fell short of expectations and the recruitment firm announced the elimination of 400 jobs.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 7 to 5 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 2 points to 797.
