The services sector made up much of the jobs figure, accounting for 150,000. Government employment rolls saw a 13,000 decrease. according to the Labor Department. The improving economic reports across the board have investors and analysts optimistic about the upcoming holiday season, which usually sees a huge increase in seasonal hiring.

The labor force participation rate, which measures those who are looking for work, increased to 14.6%.

With the election only days away, this jobs report has been seen as a possible make or break moment for the two campaigns. The numbers bode well for President Obama who has said the economy is improving, although slowly.

At 9 am, factory orders will be released. Most analysts are expecting a 4.6% increase in orders despite August’s 5.2% fall.

While the news is good on this side of the Atlantic, European investors are now concerned that Greece’s ruling party will prevent an austerity bill from passing next week. This will negatively impact Greece’s chances of getting another bailout.

Weekly jobless claims came in down 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 369,000. This was slightly higher than the 365,000 analysts were expecting. Last week’s figure was revised upward by 4,000. The Labor Department said all states reported data and nothing was unusual about the data. This comes a couple weeks after one large state failed to report their jobless claims numbers, skewing the jobless claims report to the downside for that week.

Housing industry reports continue to be an up and down affair with pending home sales rising only 0.3% in September, less than the expected 2.1%. Homebuilder stocks Toll Brothers and Pulte traded sharply lower following this report, both down more than 3%.

Earnings season continues to be in focus this week with Procter & Gamble and Sprint reporting before market open today. Procter & Gamble saw results mostly in line with expectations, but a stronger dollar affected its net income. Shares of the major consumer goods company are up more than 3% in early trading. Sprint Nextel saw a bigger than expected loss after the company upgraded its network. Shares of Sprint are mostly flat in early trading.

Earnings from some of the biggest companies are coming after the closing bell today. Apple, Amazon and Expedia are set to report their earnings in after hours. GDP and consumer sentiment are the big pieces of economic news slated for tomorrow.

The major stock averages are looking good this morning with gains of nearly 0.5% across the board. The Dow Jones is up 42 points, the Nasdaq is up 12 points and the S&P 500 is up 5 points.

Boeing shares are up today after posting earnings that beat expectations and revenue that met expectations. Boeing also announced an upbeat forecast for the full year. Facebook is one of the biggest gainers on the market today with shares up more than 20% after the company reported revenue jumped 32% thanks to gains it has made in the mobile arena.

In late morning trading, the Dow is up 47 points, the Nasdaq is up 6 points and the S&P 500 is up 3 points.

Stocks to Watch

Spartech Corp. (NYSE:SEH) is up 61.09% today at $8.28. SEH has traded 4.2 million shares this morning, well above its daily average of 62 thousand shares. SEH shares are up today on news PolyOne Corp will buy the company for $246 million. The company has a market cap of 254.82 million.

Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) is up 21.79% this morning at $23.74. FB is trading heavy volume today with over 120 million shares traded, about 3 times its daily average. FB shares are rallying today after posting better than expected earnings report yesterday afternoon. The company has a market cap of 50.77 billion

Lumber Liquidators Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:LL) is up 15.30% in early trading at $57.86. LL has traded 1.2 million shares so far today, well above its daily average of 659 thousand shares. LL shares are up today after beating EPS estimates by $0.12 and beating on revenue. The company has a market cap of 1.56 billion.

RF Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:RFMD) is up 13.23% today at $4.45. RFMD has traded 15.9 million shares so far today, 4 times its daily average. RFMD shares are rising today on better than expected second quarter results and good third quarter guidance. The company has a market cap of 1.25 billion.

Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLCM) is up 12.74% today at $10.44. PLCM has traded 3.8 million shares so far today, a million shares more than its daily average. PLCM beat EPS by $0.02 per share and beat on revenue. The company has a market cap of 1.85 billion.

Monster Beverage Corporation (NASDAQ:MNST) is up 12.78% today at $46.33. MNST has traded 5.8 million shares so far today, 2 million shares more than its daily average. MNST shares have been in the news lately after the FDA was looking into five reports of deaths linked to the energy drink. The company has a market cap of 8.19 billion.

Many investors are watching Apple closely today as they are slated to unveil the much rumored iPad mini. Facebook will be watched closely as well with the social media company reporting earnings after market close today. Facebook didn’t announce any guidance, but analysts are expecting EPS of $0.11 a share on revenue of $1.23 billion.

Europe also reared its ugly head today with Spain’s economy contracting 1.7% in the third quarter, more than the 1.3% in the second quarter. Standard & Poor’s also downgraded five regions in Spain yesterday.

The major stock averages are all down more than 1% in midday trading with the Dow down 236 points, the Nasdaq down 28 points and the S&P 500 down 21 points.

Avid Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVID) is down 12.73% today at $7.13. AVID is trading above average volume in early trading with 210 thousand shares. AVID trades about 180 thousand shares a day on average. AVID shares are falling today after third quarter warning. The company has a market cap of 275.79 million.

Amyris, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMRS) is down 8.62% today at $2.65. AMRS has traded 164 thousand shares so far today and trades 399 thousand shares a day on average. AMRS shares are down 12% over the past five days. The company has a market cap of 154.48 million.

Federal-Mogul Corp. (NASDAQ:FDML) is down 9.67% today at $7.59. FDML has traded 284 thousand shares so far today, well above its daily average of 164 thousand shares. FDML shares are down today after missing estimates on revenue and EPS. The company has a market cap of 750.68 million.

Savient Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SVNT) is down 7.51% today at $1.97. SVNT has traded 1.5 million shares so far today and trades 3.2 million shares a day on average. The company has a market cap of 138.35 million.

Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALXN) is down 4.01% today at $103.30. ALXN has traded 1.4 million shares so far today, 300 thousand shares more than its daily average. ALXN shares are down more than $10 a share over the past two days. The company has a market cap of 19.72 billion.

In Europe, rumors continue to circulate on when exactly Spain will ask for a bailout. The country’s prime minister clinched election victory in his home region, which many see as a hurdle towards Spain requesting a bailout.

The major stock averages are trading mostly flat this morning with the Dow down 8 points, the Nasdaq up 4 points and the S&P 500 up 1 point.

SuperValu Inc. (NYSE:SVU) is up 26.94% today at $2.78. SVU has traded 26.1 million shares so far today, well above its daily average of 5.2 million shares. SVU shares are up today on increasing speculation the supermarket chain will be acquired. The company has a market cap of 621.54 million.

Prospect Global Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:PGRX) is up 21.53% this morning at $3.50. PGRX is seeing huge volume traded today with 1.2 million shares traded, way above its daily average of 40 thousand shares. PGRX shares are up today after a state-owned Chinese fertilizer company signed a 10 year potash supply agreement with the company. The company has a market cap of 192.31 million.

Peabody Energy Corp. (NYSE:BTU) is up 12.55% today at $29.14. BTU has traded 16.2 million shares so far this morning, double its daily average. BTU shares are up today on after its adjusted third quarter results beat Street expectations. Peabody Energy also expects the global coal market to stabilize. The company has a market cap of 7.81 billion.

Gulf Resources, Inc. NASDAQ:GURE) is up 8.96% in early trading at $1.4818. Volume has been heavy today with nearly 600 thousand shares traded this morning. GURE typically trades 113 thousand shares a day on average. GURE shares have jumped nearly 40% since October 17. The company has a market cap of 51.84 million.

Volcano Corporation (NASDAQ:VOLC) is up 8.19% today at $29.05. VOLC has traded 1.07 million shares so far today, more than three times its daily average. VOLC shares are up today after Leerink believes the company’s legal win against St. Jude medical is a best case scenario for Volcano Corp. Leerink maintains an outperform rating on Volcano with a $32 price target. The company has a market cap of 1.56 billion.

Arch Coal Inc. (NYSE:ACI) is up 6.83% today at $8.45. ACI has traded 12.3 million shares so far today and trades 15.1 million shares a day on average. The company has a market cap of 1.82 billion.

VOC Energy Trust (NYSE:VOC) is down 16.10% this morning at $16.19. VOC is trading heavy volume today with 500 thousand shares traded. The company has a market cap of 274.04 million.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD) is down 15.27% today at $2.22. AMD has traded 72.2 million shares so far today, 3 times its daily average. AMD shares are dipping today after reporting a big loss and issuing poor guidance. The company has a market cap of 1.58 billion.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) is down 14.62% today at $244.47. CMG has traded 3.8 million shares so far today, four times its daily average. CMG shares after posting third quarter profits that came in below estimates. The company has a market cap of 7.79 billion.

Navistar International Corporation (NYSE:NAV) is down 7.11% today at $19.13. NAV has traded 2.7 million shares so far today, double its daily average. NAV shares are down about 14% over the past few days. The company has a market cap of 1.31 billion.

MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE:MTG) is down 9.06% today at $1.8370. MTG has traded 2.3 million shares so far today and trades 6.6 million shares a day on average. The company has a market cap of 373.76 million.

Yesterday, Microsoft reported earnings and saw a more than 20% drop in profit due to a weakening PC market. Tablets have really taken a big piece of the PC market and Microsoft is fighting back with its upcoming release of its Surface tablet.

Barclays said it was expecting the weakness in the PC business, but was surprised by the performance of the Office business and server and tools division. Microsoft is hoping that its tablet friendly Windows 8 will break its heavy dependence on PC sales.

Microsoft is trading down 2.37% after its earnings at $28.79.

Google shares are trading slightly higher this morning after yesterday’s 8% drop on its early earnings release. Google reported earnings per share of $9.03, well below analyst estimates of $10.65.

The major stock averages are all down more than 0.5% this morning with the Dow down 103 points, the Nasdaq down 25 points and the S&P 500 down 9 points.

Hot Stocks

Riverbed Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:RVBD) is up 12.80% today at $23.32. RVBD has traded 7.3 million shares so far today, well above its daily average of 3.8 million shares. Riverbed Technology reported good results late yesterday. Adjusted EPS came in at $0.28 per share with revenue of 218.6 million. Analysts were expecting $0.25 per share on revenue of $217.1 million. The company has a market cap of 3.59 billion.

Forward Air Corp. (NASDAQ:FWRD) is up 10.26% this morning at $33.75. Volume is heavy on FWRD this morning with nearly 300 thousand shares traded already. Forward Air reported an EPS beat by $0.01 with revenue and guidance at in-line with estimates. The company’s market cap of is 979.44 million.

ManpowerGroup (NYSE:MAN) is up 8.81% today at $39.15. MAN has traded 1.04 million shares so far today, 200 thousand shares more than its daily average. MAN shares are up this morning on a third quarter beat and good guidance for the fourth quarter. ManpowerGroup beat EPS estimates by $0.11 and said fourth quarter EPS should be above consensus. The company has a market cap of 3.07 billion.

Robert Half International Inc. (NYSE:RHI) is up 7.52% today at $27.88. RHI has traded 1.8 million shares so far today, 400 thousand shares more than its daily average. RHI shares are higher today on good earnings. Robert Half beat EPS estimates by $0.02 per share. The company has a market cap of 3.81 billion.

SanDisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) is up 5.60% today at $45.26. SNDK is trading big volume this morning with 11.04 million shares traded, more than double its daily average. SNDK shares are rallying today after posting better than expected third quarter earnings. Piper Jaffray analyst raised its rating on the stock to overweight from neutral and raised its price target to $53. The company has a market cap of 10.91 billion.

James River Coal Co. (NASDAQ:JRCC) is up 3.51% this morning at $5.00. JRCC has traded 2.7 million shares so far today, well above its daily average of 1.7 million shares. JRCC shares are up 31% over the past five days. The company has a market cap of 179.66 million.

In Europe, EU leaders are preparing to meet at a summit in Brussels as they try to overcome differences over plans for a banking union. According to reports, Greece, Spain and Cyprus will not be topics discussed at the summit.

The Dow is down 3 points, the Nasdaq is down 15 points and the S&P 500 is down 2 points.

Cybex International Inc. (NASDAQ:CYBI) is up 82.22% today at $2.46. CYBI has traded 528 thousand shares so far today, well above its daily average of 14 thousand shares. CYBI shares are up after Cybex announced a “going private” merger for $2.55 per share. The company has a market cap of 42.17 million.

Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. (NYSE:OEH) is up 37.69% this morning at $12.40. OEH has traded 5.02 million shares so far today, well above its daily average of 422 thousand shares. OEH shares are up today after IHCL offers $12.63 per share in cash for the company. The company has a market cap of 1.27 billion.

Broadwind Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:BWEN) is up 34.10% today at $2.91. BWEN has traded 1.2 million shares so far today, well above its daily average of 71 thousand shares. BWEN shares are up today after the company wins $37 million in tower orders. The company has a market cap of 39.46 million.

Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. (NYSE:ETH) is up 23.09% this morning at $29.00. ETH has traded 1.4 million shares so far today, well above its daily average of 254 thousand shares. ETH shares are rallying today after beating EPS estimates by $0.09. Ethan Allen did miss on revenue though. The company has a market cap of 817.33 million.

Wesco International Inc. (NYSE:WCC) is up 13.92% today at $65.13. WCC has traded 1.9 million shares so far today, well above its daily average of 616 thousand shares. WCC shares are up on after beating earnings by $0.01 and seeing its third quarter profit jump by 17.6%. The company has a market cap of 2.82 billion.

Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEGR) is up 13.68% today at $21.77. AEGR has traded 1.7 million shares so far today, well above its daily average of 225 thousand shares. AEGR shares after FDA panel recommends lomitapide approval. The company has a market cap of 533.67 million.