On the upside
Aircastle (NYSE: AYR) reported higher fourth quarter and full year revenue.
Although Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) reported lower fourth quarter earnings, the company expects to eliminate another $1 billion in expenses.
Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) significantly widened fourth quarter losses but the stock price rose after the company assured investors that dividends will be restored in fiscal 2009.
On the downside
Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) received a subpoena from the New York attorney general's office to provide names of Merrill Lynch executives who received a total of $3.6 billion in bonuses.
Standard & Poor's lowered its ratings for Metlife (NYSE: MET) while raising its loss assumptions for the life insurer.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 5 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 4 points to 389.