The markets closed modestly lower despite government action to take equity stakes in the nation's largest banks as investors locked in profits. The Dow fell 77 points to 9311 while Nasdaq skidded 65 points to 1779.
On the upside
Standard & Poor's Ratings Service placed iStar Financial (NYSE: SFI) on CreditWatch for a possible downgrade but the stock price rose.
Hartford Financial Services Group (NYSE: HIG) named Robert Paiano to the position of chief risk officer.
Shares of Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) surged after the federal government took an equity stake in the company.
On the downside
Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) disappointed by making only modest price adjustments for its laptops with the basic MacBook priced at $999.
Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) may lose millions from licensing contracts with bankrupt Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual.
Shares of Charles Schwab (Nasdaq: SCHW) tumbled ahead of its earnings release tomorrow. The brokerage already warned that it will take a $75 million pretax charge related to investments in Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 6 to 5 on the NYSE while decliners outpaced advancers by nearly 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks plummeted 16 points to 555.
