Late Rally Lifts Dow, S&P 500

An afternoon surge took the Dow and S&P 500 into positive territory, but left the Nasdaq slightly lower. Earlier in the day, positive retail sales and jobless claims data, was offset by the largest jump in producer prices in 34 years.

Shares of Lehman Brothers (LEH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) declined after the company reported fourth quarter earnings above analyst estimates (read more).

Costco Wholesale (COST | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) also fell after reporting Q1 earnings in-line with expectations (read more).

Dow Chemical (DOW | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) rallied after announcing a 50/50 join venture with Petrochemical Industries, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuwait's Petroleum Corp. (full story).

Biogen Idec (BIIB | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) lost more than 23% after the company announced yesterday that is was unable to find a buyer (read more).

Ciena (CIEN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) reported a 35% jump in revenues (read more), however the stock fell more than 12%.

Washington Mutual (WM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) lost nearly 3% after it was downgraded to "sell" by Banc of America (read more).