Nasdaq Cruises Higher Early as Dow Stalls

Stocks were mostly higher, with the exception of blue-chips, while

Federal Trade Commission

lawyers and

Intel

(INTC) - Get Report

have reached a proposed settlement agreement regarding the antitrust action the FTC took against the chip giant.

Intel was up 3 5/16 to 117 7/8. The commission now has to approve the settlement.

The

Dow Jones Industrial Average

was down 4 to 9732. The

S&P 500

was up 1 to 1277. The

Nasdaq Composite Index

was up 24 to 2361. The

Russell 2000

was up 1 to 399.

TheStreet.com Internet Sector

index was up 10 to 544.

TheStreet.com E-Commerce Index

was up 1 to 97.

The 30-year Treasury bond was up 16/32 to 95 11/32, yielding 5.57%.

Most Up at Open -- NYSE

McDermott International (MDR) - Get Report, up 1 3/4 to 24

.

Most Up at Open -- Nasdaq

Network Solutions (NSOL) , up 9 13/16 to 182

.

Most Down at Open -- NYSE

Merck (MRK) - Get Report, down 1 3/8 to 81 3/8

.

Most Down at Open -- Nasdaq

DoubleClick (DCLK) , down 3 3/8 to 116 3/8

.