Market Wrap: BofA Moves on Refi Chatter; Books and NOOKs; Yahoo! Looking to Acquire; Dendreon Rips

Market wrap-up for January 5th

End of the Day: Dow Jones down 2.7 to 12,415.70; Nasdaq up 21.5 to 2,669.86; S&P 500 up 3.8 to 1,281.06

The following is a brief summary of events moving markets today:

• BofA surges on refi rumors: Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) ripped higher on speculation the Obama administration might implement a new plan for home refinancing.
  
  One note from a Washington Research Group analyst on Wednesday started the fire, with comments alluding to Obama implementing a housing advocate at Fannie and Freddie parent, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The analyst said, "That could lead to a mass refinancing program for agency- backed mortgages that would go well beyond the existing Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) program."
  
  That rumor has since been denied.
  
  BofA shares ended 8.6 percent better on the session but are down about 3 percent after hours.
  
  
• Maybe a brilliant strategic move?: Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) was slammed Thursday following lowered fiscal 2012 outlook and news of the potential sale of its successful NOOK reader business. For more color on the numbers, click here.
  
  
• Because no one can immediately get weather on their phone: Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) may be looking to get some content-friendly assets as part of its proposed asset swap with Alibaba Group and Softbank. The Internet search provider is eying the Weather Channel or WebMD (Nasdaq: WBMD), both big content providers for Internet users.
  
  
• Jobless claims fall, continue below 400K level: First-time jobless claims fell 15,000 to 372,000 for the week ended December 31st, new data from the Labor Department had today. Economists were expecting a reading of 375,000 applications. The data point marks a 3.9 percent decline from an upwardly-revised reading of 387,000 for the prior week.
  
  Related, ADP reported private-sector employment rose by 325,000 jobs during the month of December.
  
  
• PROVENGE is a dish best served..: Dendreon (Nasdaq: DNDN) shares ripped higher following its initial fourth-quarter update. For more color, click here.

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