Stocks Like Fed's New Language

General Motors(GM Quote) was lowered further into junk territory by credit analysts at Standard & Poor's, who warned that a bankruptcy filing might ultimately be the only way for the automaker to cure its ills. GM was lower by 75 cents, or 3.3%, to close at $22.30.

Best Buy(BBY Quote) said its third-quarter earnings rose 11% to $138 million, or 28 cents a share, on a 10% rise in revenue to $7.3 billion. The Thomson First Call consensus was for earnings of 30 cents a share on revenue of $7.34 billion. Shares of Best Buy dropped $5.90, or 11.8%, to $43.94.

Best Buy's loss pressured the S&P Retail index, which still finished higher by 0.3%, thanks to gains of 0.3% in Circuit City(CC Quote) and 1.6% in Wal-Mart(WMT Quote).

By sector, the Amex Oil index rose 0.3% and Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index lost 1.5%. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Sector index added 0.5%, and the Philadelphia/KBW Bank Sector index was higher by 1.3%.

In other earnings news, Lehman Brothers(LEH Quote) posted fourth-quarter income of $823 million, or $2.76 a share, up from $585 million, or $1.96 a share, a year ago. Revenue jumped 28% to $3.7 billion. Analysts expected earnings of $2.64 a share on revenue of $3.6 billion, according to Thomson First Call. Lehman finished up 33 cents, or 0.3%, to $128.50.

Procter & Gamble(PG Quote) updated its second-quarter outlook, saying it now expects sales growth of 25% to 26% for the quarter, compared with its previous guidance of 23% to 26%. P&G also expects EPS of 68 cents to 69 cents in the second quarter, toward the high end of its previous forecast range of 66 cents to 69 cents. The stock was up $1.60, or 2.8%, to close at $58.51.

Cendant(CD Quote) says weakness in its travel division will lead to lower-than-expected earnings in the company's fourth and first quarters. For the three months ending this month, Cendant expects to earn 23 cents a share, a penny below estimates. Cendant tumbled $1.83, or 10%, to $16.55.