Fed Juggles; Stocks Run in Place

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 both slipped 0.1% on the day to close at 12,315.58 and 1411.56, respectively. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.5% to close at 2431.60.

Since the Fed got out of the way with no surprises, equities traders had one eye focused on earnings.

Goldman Sachs(GS Quote) posted its best quarter ever, but its shares fell 1.2% on the day.

Best Buy(BBY Quote) fell short of analysts' expectations, and said intense price competition took a bite out of its profits. Shares of the company fell 4.9%, as the company's faltering may foretell a weaker-than-expected holiday season. Some analysts report that shoppers are waiting for intense pre-Christmas discounts before hitting the stores in full force.

Shares of competitors Circuit City(CC Quote) fell 5.5%, while Costco(COST Quote) and Target(TGT Quote) shares fell more than 1%. Federated Department Stores (FD Quote) shed 3.8%.

The best read on the consumer and the Fed's next bouncing ball, comes Wednesday, with retail sales figures.

Meanwhile, Texas Instruments (TXN Quote) managed to rise 1.6% despite its lackluster guidance late Monday, but the broader chip sector slid. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index fell 0.7%.

With steelmaker Nucor (NUE Quote) another notable company with weak guidance, it seems a sense of "it can't get better than this" is brewing.

Or perhaps contrarians are betting against Merrill Lynch's stock strategist Rich Bernstein's turning tail. After being bearish through most of the past three years' rally, Bernstein joined the bulls on Tuesday. He upped his S&P 500 target to 1570 by the end of 2007, a 12% return.