There's been considerable volatility on Wall Street in recent trading sessions, so market participants might well appreciate a quiet Friday morning to end the week on a calmer note. A big spike higher in interest rates has many investors watching the Federal Reserve for signs of moving forward on its tapering of quantitative easing-inspired bond purchases. As of 11:45 a.m. EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI) was down 42 points to 34,723. The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) gave back 7 points to 4,442, and the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) fell 71 points to 14,981.
On a relatively calm day, some lesser-followed stocks were able to come to the forefront with interesting news. Meredith (NYSE: MDP) and Vail Resorts (NYSE: MTN) were among the top gainers on the New York Stock Exchange. Below, we'll look more closely at what moved those companies and what could lie ahead for shareholders.
Shares of Meredith soared more than 25% on Friday morning. The magazine publishing company was the subject of analyst speculation that it could receive a buyout bid from a key conglomerate in the digital media space.
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These Surprise Stock Winners Are Lighting Up the Markets Friday