On the upside
The cash compensation for Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) co-founder and chief executive Stephen Schwarzman plunged 99% to just $350,000.Shares of Blackberry maker Research in Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM) climbed after market research firms NPD Group and Gartner said that sales of smartphones grew last year.
American Express (NYSE: AXP) cited an accounting error for raising its fourth quarter earnings.
On the downside
Par Pharmaceutical (NYSE: PRX) swung to a fourth quarter loss due to restructuring and legal expenses.
Blount International (NYSE: BLT) blamed a drop in international sales and increased steel prices for sharply lower fourth quarter earnings and warned that 2009 revenue will fall.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks tumbled 7 points to 361.