DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ:DRYS) is up 11.30% in midday trading at $3.72. DRYS is up on heavy volume today with 39.8 million shares traded so far. The stock averages only 6 million shares a day. DRYS announced earlier this month that its drilling unit, Ocean Rig UDW, won a contract to drill 15 wells in the Norwegian Shelf. DRYS shares are up about $1.50 over hte past week and a half. The company has a market cap of 1.54 billion.

Bank of America Corporation (NYSE:BAC) is down 3.39% today at $7.98. BAC has traded 224 million shares so far today and trades 278 million shares on average. BAC and financial stocks are falling alongside the overall market today after retail sales data fell short of estimates. BAC shares had been over $8 over the past few days, but have fallen below $8 in midday trading today. The company has a market cap of 84.45 billion. [Read more...]