Stocks Mixed; Merrill Lynch Reports Wide Loss, Job Cuts

Stocks closed mixed on Thursday after disappointing results from Merrill Lynch, Pfizer and Nokia. Google
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and Advanced Micro Devices
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report earnings after the close.

The Dow rose +1.22, the S&P 500 +0.85 and the Nasdaq Composite fell -8.28.

Merrill Lynch
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reported a wider than expected loss of -$2.20 per share. However, MER rose 4.1%

Pfizer
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reported first quarter results that missed estimates for both top and bottom line numbers. PFE fell 3.3%.

Shares of Nokia
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plunged 14.1% after the company reported quarterly earnings that beat estimates by $0.02, but issued a gloomy outlook.

Sallie Mae
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reported earnings that beat estimates by $0.10. SLM gained 5.7%.

Harley-Davidson
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fell 1.9% after the company issued a disappointing outlook.

Market Snapshot

Dow

+1.22 12620.49

NASDAQ

-8.28 2341.83

S&P 500

+0.85 1365.56

Economic
News

Initial Claims (04/12): Actual 372K, Consensus 375K