Despite record oil prices and soaring wholesale prices, the markets advanced during the middday with the Dow climbing 42 points to 12,344. Nasdaq rose 7 points to 2283.

On the upside

Compuware (Nasdaq: CPWR) forecast fourth quarter earnings and revenue ahead of estimates.

Regions Financial (NYSE: RF) reported higher first quarter earnings that surpassed expectations due to gains from the sale of investment securities and Visa stock.

Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL) partnered with Satyam Computer Services (NYSE: SAY) to develop an integration architecture for Product Lifecycle Management.

On the downside

Crocs (Nasdaq: CROX) blamed disappointing sales and expenses incurred from the closure of its manufacturing plant in Canada for slashing its first quarter guidance. Analysts promptly downgraded the maker of colorful plastic shoes and cut their outlooks.

Affymetrix (Nasdaq: AFFX) lowered its outlook for the year saying that research spending by its clients is expected to drop.

Analysts downgraded Novatel (Nasdaq: NVTL) after the wireless modem maker warned that first quarter earnings will fall short of estimates.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 10 to 9 on the NYSE and by nearly the same on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 3 points to 689.