On the upside
Expedia (Nasdaq: EXPE) reported lower first quarter earnings due to restructuring charges and lower revenue but the results beat expectations.First quarter earnings for First Solar (Nasdaq: FSLR) more than tripled as the company cut production costs and signed new projects.
Human Genome Sciences (NYSE: HGSI) reversed year ago losses to post a profit for the first quarter due to sales of its anthrax treatment.
On the downside
First quarter earnings for Safeway (NYSE: SWY) fell to miss estimates as consumers spent less.
Assurant (NYSE: AIZ) disappointed with lower first quarter earnings due to the challenging economic environment.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 4 to 3 on the NYSE while advancers were on par with decliners on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 3 points to 487.