Personal income and consumer confidence both rose but the markets traded lower during the midday with the Dow falling 41 points to 13,031 as the Federal Reserve convened its two-day policy meeting. Nasdaq eased a point to 2943. On the upside
U. S. Steel (NYSE: X) reported lower second quarter earnings but the results surpassed analyst expectations by a wide margin. The Wall Street Journal reported that Nokia (NYSE: NOK) will increase the amount of stock options available to key employees. Goodyear Tire & Rubber (NYSE: GT) impressed with sharply higher second quarter earnings that more than doubled to beat analyst estimates. On the downside Masco (NYSE: MAS) fell to a loss for the second quarter as margins slipped. Amarin's (Nasdaq: AMRN) chief executive Joe Zakrzewski, president John Thero and director Carl Gordon all sold shares of company stock. Humana (NYSE: HUM) disappointed with lower second quarter earnings that fell far short of analyst expectations and cut its full year outlook. In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 3 to 2 on the NYSE and by 9 to 7 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 3 points to 788.