Despite an increase in pending home sales, the markets opened lower with the Dow slipping 25 points to 12,572 as European debt concerns continued to weigh on investors. Nasdaq lost 18 points to 2855.
On the upside
Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) reported higher first quarter earnings that topped analyst estimates as revenue rose.
Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway will pay approximately $142 million to acquire 63 newspapers from Media General (NYSE: MEG).
A Seeking Alpha contributor expects Galena Biopharma (Nasdaq: GALE) shares to climb over the next three weeks leading up to the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference.
On the downside
Shares of MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE: WFR) continued falling after announcing the immediate resignation of chief financial officer Mark Murphy yesterday.
Advance Auto Parts (NYSE: AAP) reported higher first quarter earnings but the results fell short of analyst expectations and the automotive parts retailer warned of a challenging second quarter.
GameStop (NYSE: GME) disappointed with lower first quarter earnings and revenue and forecast second quarter income well below expectations.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks dropped 5 points to 766.
