The markets opened higher as new home sales fell to their lowest level in more than 12 years. The Dow added 26 points to 13,386 while Nasdaq climbed 9 points to 2685.

On the upside

Sallie Mae (NYSE: SLM) added $3 billion to its balance sheet by selling $1 billion of convertible securities and $2 billion in common stock.

Egg producer Cal Maine Foods (Nasdaq: CALM) posted sharply higher profits as egg prices set new record highs.

China-based online gaming and Internet portal company CDC (Nasdaq: CHINA) announced that it has bought back nearly 3 million shares of stock this year.

On the downside

Shares of MBIA (NYSE: MBI) and Ambac Financial Group (NYSE: ABK) fell sharply on worries that the bond insurers may be getting new competition from Warren Buffett.

Shares of Theravance (Nasdaq: THRX) lost ground and hit a new 2-year low after the FDA announced a new review of the company's skin infection drug candidate.

Centerline Holding (NYSE: CHC) cut its dividend while selling off its bond portfolio to the original investors.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 5 to 4 on the NYSE and by a margin of 4 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 2 points to 776.