The market opened mixed with the Dow adding 2 points to 15,881 as new home sales fell. Nasdaq dropped 40 points to 4087.
On the upside
Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) reported higher fourth quarter earnings that surpassed analyst expectations and forecast full year results ahead of estimates.
Millennial Media (NYSE: MM) reported preliminary fourth quarter results that exceeded previous guidance by a wide margin.
Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) received an offer from Shanda Interactive Entertainment to take the company private for approximately $1.9 billion.
On the downside
Investors locked in profits on Cell Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CTIC).
Profit taking weighed down shares of Geron (Nasdaq: GERN).
Shares of Galena Biopharma (Nasdaq: GALE) extended its losses.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of 7 to 5 on the NYSE and by a margin of 3 to 2 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 lost 5 points to 1784. Bitcoin held steady at $965.10.
