Stocks finished lower after well-known banking analyst Dick Bove downgraded his rating on Wells Fargo.

Stocks advanced Wednesday as investors were encouraged by a few earnings reports, including Morgan Stanley, Yahoo and SanDisk. The VIX, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, dropped to just above 20.

Stocks opened lower Wednesday as a raft of companies beating earning estimates but failed to impress investors.

Earnings season continues in earnest Wednesday, as we roll on with a week that will ultimately see 25 percent of the S&P 500 report their quarterly numbers. 

Nearly a year after the federal rescue of the nation’s biggest banks, taxpayers have begun seeing profits from the hundreds of billions of dollars in aid, the New York Times reports.

The Dow and S&P snapped their winning streaks Wednesday as disappointing earnings from two of Wall Street's biggest names overshadowed another round of earnings beats.

Stocks wobbled Wednesday as a slew of earnings beats, including one from Pfizer, were encouraging but disappointing reports from two of Wall Street's biggest names dragged on the market.

Stocks wobbled Wednesday as a slew of earnings beats, including one from Pfizer, were encouraging but disappointing reports from two of Wall Street's biggest names dragged on the market.

Futures indicated a lower open for Wall Street Wednesday as cautious words from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Yahoo's missing revenue expectations lent to investors taking profits.

As Congress spent much of the last three months looking at ways to tighten regulations on financial institutions, some of the biggest bailout recipients increased their spending on influencing legislators.

Stock markets are just at the beginning of a larger rally which could see the major indexes jump another 20-to-30 percent and banks are the best bet, Michael Browne, portfolio manager from Sofaer Global Research, told CNBC.