E Trade, Cintas Among Winners for Flat S&P 500

After strong performances by the financial markets yesterday, the Standard & Poor 500 Index was flat at midday, around 1,325. However, robust earnings, progress on U.S. debt ceiling negotiations and an easing of concerns about the debt crisis in Europe have some S&P stocks furthering yesterday�s powerful performance.

E Trade (NASDAQ:ETFC) was up about $2, more than 15%, to over $14.90 as the company is now �in play.� Citadel, the hedge fund that is the largest investor in E Trade, announced its intentions to sell its holdings. E Trade has been a poor investment for Citadel, as it is down almost 95% during the past five years. It is lower by 19.06% for its performance year-to-date.

After falling sharply earlier in the month, Cintas (NASDAQ:CTAS) was up more than 9.6%, almost $3, to over $33.80 on an upgrade from Barrington Research. For the past week, Cintas is down 4.46%. It is trading above its 20-, 50- and 200-day moving averages.

Riding the boom in oil stocks because of greater global demand and takeover activity, Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) rose more than $3.50 in the early session to over $68.90, about a 5.35% increase. Murphy Oil might spin off its refining unit to increase shareholder value, as Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) did recently. With a relative strength index of 65.53, Murphy Oil is close to the 70 standard for a stock to be viewed as overbought.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) was down more than $4.20 in early trading to under $51.20, a loss of more than 7.6%, as it announced plans to acquire Nalco Holdings for $5.4 billion. Ecolab is up over 14.35% for the year with a relative strength index of 28.56. A relative strength index rating of 30 is the mark for when a stock is considered to be oversold.

Yahoo (NASDAQ:YHOO) was down about $1 to under $13.65, a drop of more than 6.5%. Revenue for Yahoo fell 23% because of a decline in advertising on the search engine site. Yahoo is down almost 11% for the quarter, with a relative strength index rating of 27.54. It is trading double digits beneath its 20-, 50- and 200-day moving averages.

Altera (NASDAQ:ALTR) was trading under $41.16 in the morning session, shedding about $2.40, over 5.5%, after releasing its earnings yesterday after the closing bell. Down 3.33% for the week, Altera is beneath its 20- and 50-day moving averages. Altera has a relative strength index rating of 33.59.

Johnathan Yates did not own any of the aforementioned stocks as of this writing.