Stocks Take a Spill

Subprime lender New Century Financial (NEW Quote) sank 36.2% after it said it would unexpectedly post a fourth-quarter loss and have to restate some results.

Financing concerns Countrywide Financial (CFC Quote) and Novastar (NFI Quote) also finished with losses.

Before the market opened, investors started sifting through the barrage of monthly retail reports, most of which beat expectations. Wal-Mart (WMT Quote) confirmed this weekend's announcement about its January sales, saying comparable-store revenue climbed 2.2% last month.

Rivals Target (TGT Quote) and Kohl's (KSS Quote) both reported strong same-store growth for the month that easily beat estimates.

Among other names topping forecasts were JC Penney (JCP Quote) and Aeropostale (ARO Quote). Gap (GPS Quote) reported flat sales for January, while estimates were for a decline of 7.7%.

On the weak side were Sharper Image (SHRP Quote), where comps fell 25%, and Ann Taylor (ANN Quote), with a decline of 10.2%.

Generally speaking, stocks haven't moved a great deal this week, but tech shares finally caught a bid Wednesday thanks to gains in networking leader Cisco (CSCO Quote). The Nasdaq rose 19.01 points, or 0.77%, to 2490.50.

As for the Dow, it hit an intraday record high of 12,700.28 but pulled back to finish up just 0.56 point at 12,666.87. The S&P 500 added 2.02 points, or 0.14%, to 1450.02.

Following the previous close, Dow component Disney (DIS Quote) posted strong earnings, buoyed by asset sales and a solid performance by its film studios. Excluding items, Disney earned 50 cents a share, topping estimates by 11 cents. Revenue rose to $9.73 billion for the first quarter, up from the prior year's $8.85 billion. Disney slid by 19 cents, or 0.5%, to $35.29.