Stocks are mixed in midday trading as investors weighed the impact of President Barack Obama's budget proposal for the next fiscal year.

Obama unveiled a $3.73 trillion budget Monday that includes a five-year freeze on many domestic spending programs. Republicans and Democrats have argued recently over whether deep spending cuts will slow the economy's recovery.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. dropped 1.4 percent after analysts at JPMorgan downgraded the company. Wal-Mart was the weakest stock among the 30 that make up the Dow Jones industrial average.

The Dow fell 18 points, or 0.1 percent, to 12,255. The S&P 500 rose less than a point to 1,329. The Nasdaq composite gained 7 points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,816.

The technology company said its cash tender offer applies to any and all of the $400 million in aggregate principal amount outstanding. The tender offer expires on Feb. 22, unless extended.

Honeywell's obligation to accept and pay for notes tendered hinges on whether net proceeds from the company's simultaneous offering of new notes are sufficient to buy old notes that are validly tendered.

Shares of Honeywell fell 53 cents, or about 0.9 percent, to $57.45 in morning trading.

THE SPARK: Clorox shares climbed 8 percent Friday to close at $71.26, after Icahn's stake was disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The notice came a week after Clorox reported an 81 percent drop in fiscal second-quarter profit on softer sales and a charge.

THE BIG PICTURE: The Oakland, Calif., company makes a range of cleaning products along with food products such as Hidden Valley salad dressing.

Icahn has a history of investing in companies going through difficult financial situations and pushing for changes.

The analyst said it was too early to understand the motivation behind Icahn's interest. The investor's targets seem to fall in three categories: break ups, merger and acquisition candidates, or companies that are pushed to improve business fundamentals.

The tender offer is scheduled to expire on March 14. The company said it will accept a portion of its 2016 notes that are validly tendered and not withdrawn before 5 p.m. EDT on Feb. 28.

The company has a total of $1.5 billion of the notes outstanding.

Viacom has retained BofA Merrill Lynch, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo Securities to serve as dealer managers in the tender offer.

Class A shares of Viacom slid 27 cents to $51.27 in late morning trading.

Traders are monitoring the situation in Cairo as protesters and regime supporters skirmished for a second day at a central Cairo square while new lawlessness spread around the city. New looting and arson erupted, and gangs of thugs supporting President Hosni Mubarak attacked reporters, foreigners and rights workers while the army rounded up foreign journalists.

Though the market impact of Egypt's turmoil has diminished as the week progressed, it continues to fuel uncertainty.

"Fresh turmoil in Egypt and risk of contagion will unsettle equity markets and maintain upward pressure on oil price," said Neil MacKinnon, global macro strategist at VTB Capital.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed down 0.3 percent at 5,983.34 while Germany's DAX rose 0.1 percent to 7,193.68. The CAC-40 underperformed its peers, ending 0.7 percent lower at 4,036.59.