Fly Intel: Wall Street's top stories at midday

Stocks opened sharply higher thanks to solid earnings reports from some of the country's largest corporations, including three Dow components. Also helping was the JOLTS report, which showed a record number of jobs were available in August. Each of the major averages is higher by at least 1%, with the Nasdaq leading the way with a gain of nearly 2%. ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., industrial production rose 0.3% in September, bringing capacity use to 78.1%. The NAHB housing market index rose 1 point to 68 in October after holding at 67 in the prior two months. The JOLTS report showed job openings rose 59,000 to about 7.14M in August, a new record high. COMPANY NEWS: Two of the biggest names in healthcare, UnitedHealth (UNH) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), are rising by 3.5% and 2%, respectively, following earnings reports from the Dow members. Both reported better than expected earnings and revenue and each raised their respective fiscal year outlooks... Also on the earnings front, fellow Dow member Goldman Sachs (GS) reported better than expected earnings and revenue, stating that its "solid results" in the third quarter were driven by contributions from across its "diversified client franchise." Goldman's year-to-date earnings per share is the highest in its history and year-to-date return on equity is the highest in nine years, noted CEO David Solomon. Banking peer Morgan Stanley (MS) reported what Oppenheimer analyst Chris Kotowski called a "clean beat," leading him to raise his 2019 earnings per share estimate and upgrade the stock to Outperform from Perform... Shares of Adobe (ADBE) are up 8% after the company gave preliminary guidance for fiscal 2019 that JPMorgan analyst Sterling Auty said "gives enough ammunition" to deliver $8 in earnings per share, "satisfying any expectations" going into the analyst meeting held as part of the Adobe MAX event. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the noteworthy gainers was Noodles & Company (NDLS), which rose 15% after SunTrust analyst Jake Bartlett upgraded the stock to Buy from Hold and raised his price target to $15 from $11. Also higher was Tesla (TSLA), which gained 4% after Bloomberg reported that U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan approved Tesla CEO Elon Musk's $20M settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding claims that he misled investors in tweets about taking the company private. Among the notable losers was Jeld-Wen (JELD), which fell 20% after the door and window maker reported weak preliminary Q3 results and announced the departure of CFO Brooks Mallard. Also lower was Grainger (GWW), which dropped 13% after reporting quarterly results. INDEXES: Near midday, the Dow was up 340.39, or 1.35%, to 25,590.94, the Nasdaq was up 136.62, or 1.84%, to 7,567.37, and the S&P 500 was up 37.99, or 1.38%, to 2,788.78.