Mixed Trading Day for Cable

Cable stocks were mixed on Monday, with shares split between modest losses and even thinner gains, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped its toes into positive territory.

The Dow closed Monday up 37 points -- after rising by as much as 203 points earlier in the day -- in another choppy session. The lift comes after a loss of more than 170 points on Friday. For cable stocks, which held on to small gains last Friday, it was a mixed day, with some stocks posting small gains as others shouldered losses of as much as 3.5%.

Satellite stocks also were down slightly, with Dish Network dipping 2% (49 cents) to $21.37 and DirecTV down 0.4% (17 cents) to $41.76 per share.

Programmers showed some gains, with Viacom up 1.4% (70 cents) to $50.59; Liberty Interactive up 1.3% (18 cents) to $13.92; Disney up 0.5% (17 cents) to $32.02; and Scripps Networks up 0.1% (3 cents) to $38.87.

The rest of the sector showed another day of moderate losses, with Liberty Capital, down 3.5% ($2.30) to $63.37; AMC Networks down 2.5% (82 cents) to $32.23; Liberty Starz down 2% ($1.40) to $64.22; News Corp., down 0.8% (12 cents) to $15.68; Time Warner Inc., down 0.6% (16 cents) to $27.74; and Discovery Communications, down 0.1% (4 cents) to $36.28;