The markets opened lower with the Dow falling 38 points to 13,954 as investors continued to monitor federal budget developments. Nasdaq lost 6 points to 3187.

On the upside

A Barron's article reported favorably on Wendy's (Nasdaq: WEN) updated menu and improved marketing strategy.

Shares of Celsion (Nasdaq: CLSN) continued rising after TheStreet listed the company as one of five poised to breakout.

RBC Capital upgraded AOL (NYSE: AOL) to an Outperform rating.

On the downside

Home Depot (NYSE: HD) will replace the Blackberrys (Nasdaq: BBRY) supplied to approximately 10,000 corporate staff with Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone 4S.

Radian Group (NYSE: RDN) widened fourth quarter losses as expenses climbed.

Dougherty downgraded Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (Nasdaq: GMCR) to a Neutral rating.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by more than 7 to 5 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index slipped 2 points to 1515.