Ebola Patient Nina Pham Heading Home, Stocks Tread Higher on Earnings

Stocks flip-flopped most of the morning and is now back to making small gains as investors digest corporate earnings and try to brush off concerns of the first confirmed case of Ebola in New York City. The positive news is Nina Pham, the Texas nurse who contracted Ebola is now heading home. U.S. health officials say she is now virus free. Proctor & Gamble (PG) is climbing after reporting it will split off its Duracell battery business. Shares of UPS (UPS) are moving to the upside after beating expectations on both the top and bottom lines. The shipping company added it expects a strong holiday season. Earnings news is also giving Microsoft (MSFT) a lift. The company said it did well across the board but sales were driven by its consumer group. A different story for Amazon.com (AMZN). The stock is tanking after reporting a wider-than-expected quarterly loss. The online retailer is also expecting holiday sales to be weaker than expectations. Sales of New Homes were up 0.2% in September. Purchases in August were revised down sharply indicating an uneven housing recovery.