The markets are struggling to move this morning as home sales fell in the month of June. With the drop in home sales this years sales pace is on track to be the worst since the housing bust, leading to the weakest sales in 13 years. That’s not the only news keeping the markets down this morning. The European Union has proposed some new bank rules that will force banks to raise 460 billion euros by the year 2019. These measures are to help avoid future economic let downs. Amid all of the ups and downs in the markets Oil has continued to rise reaching $98.50 per barrel as crude stockpiles decreased by 3.7 million barrels. Gasoline supplies rose by 800,000 barrels after analyst expected a 450,000 drop. Despite the sluggish feel to the market several stocks have been performing well.

Apple Inc. (Nasdaq:AAPL) shares have made a nice jump this morning climbing 4% to 388.89 per share with an intraday high of $396.27. Apple made such a large jump on news that That third quarter revenue climbed 82% to $28.57 billion besting analyst estimates of 24.99 billion. AAPL posted a net income $7.31 billion of $7.79 per share while analyst expected a net income of $5.85 per share. Apple sold 20.34 million iPhones during the recently ended quarter to become the worlds largest seller of smartphones.

E*Trade Financial Corporation (Nasdaq:ETFC) shares are up this morning climbing 15% to $14.89 per share with an intraday high of $15.23 per share. Volume is trading five times normal on news that the companies largest share holder Citadel LLC, has asked the company to consider putting itself up for sale. E*Trade has a current market value of nearly $4.2 billion and could draw interest from a number of suitors if a buyout becomes possible.

Nalco Holding Company (NYSE:NLC) shares have risen 24% this morning to $35.90 per share. Volume has exceeded 28 million shares on news that Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) has agreed to purchase the NLC for $5.4 billion. Ecolabs offering $38.80 per share or .7 shares of Ecolab stock for each Nalco share. The bid is nearly 34% above the previous close for NLC. The Purchase of Nalco will help to diversify Ecolabs customer base and push the company into areas it has never been.