On the upside
Shares of CIT Group (NYSE: CIT) rebounded as the commercial lender continued to negotiate with the FDIC for loan guarantees in order to stave off bankruptcy.
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) posted higher revenues and lower profits that beat expectations.
Noven Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: NOVN) received a $428 million cash offer from Japan-based Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical.
On the downside
Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) posted quarterly earnings that surpassed expectations as well as year-ago quarter results. Investors already anticipated the solid performance.
The Pentagon decided not to renew its military health care contracts with Humana (NYSE: HUM) and Health Net (NYSE: HNT). The contracts would go to Aetna (NYSE: AET) and UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) instead.
Shares of Take-Two Interactive Software (Nasdaq: TTWO) fell after the video game maker lowered its outlook due to slowing consumer demand and the delayed release of BioShock 2 until next year.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a narrow margin on the NYSE, but were edged out by a margin of 5 to 4 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks slipped 2 points to 491.
