On the upside
Iris International (Nasdaq: IRIS) cited strong sales for providing fourth quarter guidance above street estimates.
On the downside
Standard & Poor's downgraded PNC Financial (NYSE: PNC) and cut its earnings estimate for the financial services firm.
Shares of Allied Irish Banks (NYSE: AIB), collapsed amidst fears of further banking losses despite assurances from the government that it will not take control of Ireland's largest bank.
Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. analyst Christopher Mutascio downgraded Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) citing the increasing government funds required to keep the bank solvent.
Shares of IBM (Nasdaq: IBM) fell ahead of its earnings release after market close.
Friedman, Billings, Ramsay analyst Paul Miller said that Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) must lower its dividend in order to build up some capital.
In the broad market, declining issues overwhelmed advancers by a margin of nearly 8 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 6 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks slumped 33 points to 434.
