Midday movers: JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Lexmark
Stocks are higher as investors' worst fears for JPMorgan and China fail to materialize.

Better-than-expected earnings reports from JPMorgan (JPM), as well as Wells Fargo (WFC), kick-started the second-quarter earnings season, one in which investors were more cautious than they have been in recent years.
JPMorgan took a $4.4 billion second-quarter charge on its London CIO operations and restated its first-quarter results lower based on the losses associated with the "London Whale." The bank's CFO Doug Braunstein pegged the trading loss through Thursday at $5.8 billion, which may have been less than some expected, and the bank said its CIO synthetic credit group has been closed down and all of its London CIO managers have been let go.
Investors responded positively to the results and the disclosures, sending shares of the Dow component up 6%.
Wells Fargo, which also reported second-quarter results, saw its profits rise 17% on the strength of heavy refinance activity and its shares rose 3% near noon.
Among the notable gainers Friday are Presidential Life (PLFE), up over 36%, on news it will be acquired by Athene Annuity for $14 per share, and Kinross Gold (KGC), up more than 6%, as takeover speculation circulated, possibly fueled by an article in Canada's Globe and Mail.
Among Friday's noteworthy market losers are Bridgepoint Education (BPI), down over 26%, after disclosing one of the accreditors for its Ashford University is requiring a report on its accreditation requirements, and Lexmark (LXK), down nearly 15%, after the company reduced its second-quarter earnings per share and revenue outlook.
MORE ON MSN MONEY
DATA PROVIDERS
Copyright © 2013 Microsoft. All rights reserved.
Quotes are real-time for NASDAQ, NYSE and AMEX. See delay times for other exchanges.
Fundamental company data and historical chart data provided by Thomson Reuters (click for restrictions). Real-time quotes provided by BATS Exchange. Real-time index quotes and delayed quotes supplied by Interactive Data Real-Time Services. Fund summary, fund performance and dividend data provided by Morningstar Inc. Analyst recommendations provided by Zacks Investment Research. StockScouter data provided by Verus Analytics. IPO data provided by Hoover's Inc. Index membership data provided by SIX Financial Information.
Japanese stock price data provided by Nomura Research Institute Ltd.; quotes delayed 20 minutes. Canadian fund data provided by CANNEX Financial Exchanges Ltd.
LATEST POSTS
Government support and low rates make a compelling case for real estate-related stocks.
FIDELITY VIEWPOINTS
- How to sell covered calls - Fidelity Investments
- Savvy year-end tax moves to consider now - Fidelity Investments
- Seven ways to prepare for tax changes
- Five reasons an annual review is crucial - Fidelity Investments
- Take a look at mid caps now - Fidelity Investments
- State of the sector: Health care - Fidelity Investments
VIDEO ON MSN MONEY
ABOUT
Top Stocks provides analysis about the most noteworthy stocks in the market each day, combining some of the best content from around the MSN Money site and the rest of the Web.
Contributors include professional investors and journalists affiliated with MSN Money.
Follow us on Twitter @topstocksmsn.
