The Biggest Stock Market News Today as the Dow Soars

Stock market news today kicks off on a good note with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up more than 100 points before noon on Monday.

But investors still await more clarity on whether the United States will attack Syria.

U.S. President Barack Obama is trying to shore up support for his plan to take action against Syria for using chemical weapons against its citizens. Congress returns from summer recess today to face a slew of issues, including resolving budget deficit woes. President Obama is likely to face a difficult time convincing the House to go along with the plan, which means investors are very uncertain regarding what's next.

In other stock market news today, U.S. economic indicators include a report on consumer credit at 3 p.m. today, but the data front is otherwise fairly quiet.

In major earnings news, Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. (NYSE: HOV) is up 2% today as it reports its third-quarter earnings fell to $0.06 per share from $0.25 the year earlier. Its earnings missed the Street consensus of $0.07 by $0.01 per share.

Among today's other movers, Lululemon Athletica Inc. (Nasdaq: LULU) shares are welcoming strong gains after Citigroup initiated coverage on the stock at a "Buy." LULU is up about 3% in morning trade.

And, in other consumer stock market news today, Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM) is up 2.4% in this morning after it reported after hours on Friday that August same-store sales for its China division declined by 10% year over year. This included an estimated decline of 12% at KFC and 5% growth at Pizza Hut Casual Dining.

Stock Market News Today: Technology

The tech market's news today includes a plunge in Hanwha SolarOne Co. Ltd. (Nasdaq: HSOL) shares, which are down 5% in morning trade after its second-quarter loss narrowed to $0.32 per share from a loss of $0.43 in Q1.

The non-generally accepted accounting principles net loss per share was $0.25 compared to the Street estimate for a loss of $0.32. Total revenue was at 192.7 million compared to $179.2 million in Q1.

Also, the drawn-out dispute over the bid to take over Dell Inc. (Nasdaq: DELL) has finally come to an end as investor Carl Icahn says he is backing down, saying the battle would be "almost impossible to win," MarketWatch reports.

Stock Market News Today: Healthcare

And in the healthcare sector, Isis Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: ISIS) is up 11% as it and Biogen Idec Inc. (Nasdaq: BIBB) have entered into a broad, multi-year collaboration to advance the treatment of neurological diseases. ISIS will receive an upfront payment of $100 million. Most of that payment will be reflected as research and development expense in BIIB's third-quarter financial results.

ISIS is eligible to receive milestone payments, license fees, and royalty payments for all treatments developed through this collaboration, with the specific amount dependent on the modality of the molecule advanced by BIIB. In the case of antisense molecules, the milestone payments could be as much as $220 million, plus additional amounts related to the cost of clinical trials conducted by ISIS under the collaboration.

Finally, PDL BioPharma Inc. (Nasdaq: PDLI) expects third-quarter revenue of about $97 million, as compared with actual revenue of $85 million for the third quarter last year, an approximate 14% increase. Analysts expect revenue of $97.9 million.

Now for today's big story: The High-Tech "Gold Rush" Officially Begins...