On the upside
Morgan Keegan upgraded Synovus Financial (NYSE: SNV).
iStar Financial (NYSE: SFI) reversed year ago losses to post a profit for the fourth quarter.
On the downside
Psychiatric Solutions (Nasdaq: PSYS) disappointed with lower fourth quarter earnings that fell short of estimates as margins dropped and lowered its full year guidance.
Fourth quarter earnings for NII Holdings (Nasdaq: NIHD) plunged to fall far short of expectations due to mounting expenses and the Latin American wireless carrier forecast disappointing 2009 sales.
Although Cogent Systems (Nasdaq: COGT) reported higher fourth quarter earnings and revenue, the results missed expectations.
Inegrys Energy Group (NYSE: TEG) forecast 2009 income that falls far short of analyst expectations.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 3 points to 404.