- Abu Dhabi Will Aid Debt-Fraught Dubai 'Case by Case'
- Banks With The Biggest Exposure to The UAE
- Dubai's Debt Woes Signal New Era for Creditors
- Next Week: Cash In Now Or Wait For A Santa Rally?
- Dubai Stock Selloff May Bring Buying Opportunity
- Longer Lines, Fuller Carts This Black Friday
- Big US Banks May Be Forced to Raise Capital: Bove
- Bank of America Amends Pay for Senior Executives
- Tiger Woods Out of Hospital After Accident
- U.S. Stocks Fall on Dubai Worries
- Black Friday at Best Buy
- Strategists on Dubai: Avoid 'Rash Moves' Now
- Longer Lines, Fuller Carts This Black Friday
- Dubai Stock Market Fear Has 'Legs': Dennis Gartman
- Obama's Emission Reduction Pledge Paints Future for Autos
- Is Super Bowl Halftime Act Too Old?
- Surprising Options Trades in TiVo Shares
- EA Sports Hopes to Pump Up Sales Through Pop-Up Locations
MOST SHARED
Text Size 
Stocks slipped Wednesday as investors took a breather after a two-day rally and braced for the start of earnings season.
Techs started to push higher after an analyst upgrade on Cisco.
This comes after a two-day rally, in which stocks gained 2.6 percent, as recent data points have revitalized optimism about the recovery.
But that could all change as earnings season unofficially kicks off today, with the first Dow component, Alcoa [AA
Loading...
()
], reporting after the bell.
"Earnings season is now upon us, and no one is willing to make a bet after the two-day run-up without seeing the numbers. Today should be a day of less drama as the market gets ready to digest the results," Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Markets, told Reuters.
Costco and Family Dollar beat expectations this morning, an encouraging sign for the retail sector ahead of chain-store sales, due out tomorrow.
Bank of America [BAC
Loading...
()
] was raised to "outperform" by Wells Fargo, the latest in the string of upgrades on the financial sector.
And Citigroup [C
Loading...
()
] is said to be exploring a possible sale of its Phibro commodities unit.
Cisco [CSCO
Loading...
()
] led the Dow — and the Nasdaq — after a William Blair analyst upgraded his rating on the stock to "outperform" from "market perform." The analyst said Cisco is winning new deals and generally benefiting from the recovery amid pent-up demand.
Microsoft [MSFT
Loading...
()
] CEO Steve Ballmer said he doesn't expect the launch of Windows 7 to boost PC sales.
Amazon.com [AMZN
Loading...
()
] rallied after the online marketplace lowered the price of its Kindle e-reader, while expanding its marketing overseas.
Rumor has it that News Corp. [NWS
Loading...
()
] chief Rupert Murdoch is in Asia right now, scouting out potential partners for his own e-reader.
Avis Budget Group [CAR
Loading...
()
] warned that a recent warrant transaction against the car rental company could impact earnings. Avis on Tuesday offered $250 million in notes along with a warrant transaction. Shares fell 8.8 percent in premarket trading.
In economic news, mortgage applications rose to their highest level since mid-May as interest rates continued to drop.
Among other numbers of note today: The Energy Department is out with the weekly oil inventories data at 10:30 am. Consumer Credit figures for August will be issued by the government at 3 pm.
Following better-than-average demand for 3-year notes in an auction yesterday, the Treasury is back at it again today with a sale of $20 billion in 10-year notes. As usual, the results will be available shortly after 1 pm.
At 10 am, General Motors chief executive Fritz Henderson will be presenting a business update for the automaker, highlighting the progress it's made since its emergence from bankruptcy.
The Washington Post is reporting a probe of Hospital Corp. of America [HCA
Loading...
()
] for possible securities law violations.
And Burger King Holdings [BKC
Loading...
()
] is announcing an extensive revamp of its 12,000 worldwide locations.
Kansas City Federal Reserve President Thomas Hoenig is also in the news, saying late Tuesday that it's too soon to withdraw the Fed's massive support even though the U.S. economy is clearly rebounding.
- Written by Peter Schacknow, Senior Producer, CNBC Breaking News Desk
- These four sectors will be the next to lead the market.
- Zhu Zhu Pets are this year's must-have toy, fetching $40 or more on eBay.
- From the why-didn’t-I-think-of-that file, we present Jason Sadler, a man whose job is wearing T-shirts.
- It may be the most unusual guide to business you'll read.
- Shopping for a gadget hound? The choices can be baffling. Here are a few that should be a hit.
- "The Who" will be the halftime act for Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7 in Miami. Is the NFL behind the times?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes