Mid-day Movers (CIE, AMRS, IPSU, MOVE, LNKD)

At about noon, the three major equity indexes have all maintained the losses they started the morning with. The DJIA is down about 118 points at about 12,772, the Nasdaq is down about 20 points at around 2,908, and the S&P 500 is down about 10 points to 1,342. The failure of deal on Greek debt is the big weight, but US consumer confidence was lower today, and the US trade deficit was larger. The dollar is stronger against the euro and the British pound, though weaker against the Japanese yen, and the dollar index is up 0.433% at 79.050, somewhat higher than where it started the day.

Among the major movers at around noon today are Cobalt International Energy Inc (NYSE: CIE), Amyris Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRS), Imperial Sugar Inc. (NASDAQ: IPSU), Move Inc. (NASDAQ: MOVE), and LinkedIn Corp. (NASDAQ: LNKD).

Cobalt Int’l. Energy is up nearly 37% at $32.66 after posting a new 52-week high of $35.87 earlier. Volume is about already about 12x the daily average of around 1.5 million shares traded. The independent oil & gas producer reported significantly better-than-expected flows from a test well offshore of Angola.

Amyris is down nearly -28% at $7.02 after posting a new 52-week low of $6.93 earlier. Volume is more than double the daily average of around 218,000 shares traded. The biofuel maker’s stock was downgraded following a negative outlook from the company for 2012. The company is also planning a secondary stock offering to make up for what it is forecasting as negative cash flow this year.

Imperial Sugar is up more than 24% at $7.47. Volume is nearly 10x the daily average of about 560,000 shares traded. The sugar refiner and marketer said yesterday that it is nearing a sale of one of its divisions and investors love the news. More coverage here.

Move is up more than 17% at $8.88. Volume is nearly 6x the daily average of 250,000 shares traded. The internet real estate site operator reported better than expected earnings last night and raised its guidance.

LinkedIn is up more than 16% at $88.84. Volume is already more than 6x the daily average of about 1.8 million shares traded. The professional social network reported much better-than-expected earnings last night. More coverage here.

Paul Ausick