Tepid Start for Stocks

Updated from 7:49 a.m. EDT

The U.S. stock market opened narrowly mixed Wednesday's as investors, neck-deep in earnings statements, mulled over the prospect of government aid for the mortgage industry and a continuing decline in oil prices.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was slipping 24 points to 11,578, and the S&P 500 was adding a point to 1278. The Nasdaq gave up 4 points to 2300.

On Tuesday, the three major indices ramped up in the final hour of trading to close near their highs. Shortly thereafter, Internet portal Yahoo! (YHOO Quote - Cramer on YHOO - Stock Picks) announced lackluster second-quarter earnings and tepid guidance, but the stock was up slightly in early trading.

In the financial sector, Washington Mutual (WM Quote - Cramer on WM - Stock Picks) reported a loss that was worse than analysts had feared, but also said it wouldn't need to raise additional capital.

Boeing (BA Quote - Cramer on BA - Stock Picks) and AT&T (T Quote - Cramer on T - Stock Picks), two members of the Dow Jones Industrial Average's 30-stock club, reported before the open. Boeing reaffirmed its forward guidance, but its earnings for the second quarter dropped 19% from a year earlier. AT&T's profit rose 30% year over year and was in line with expectations.

Traders also heard from integrated oil company ConocoPhillips (COP Quote - Cramer on COP - Stock Picks), which saw adjusted income rise 13% year over year, beating estimates. Northwest Airlines (NWA Quote - Cramer on NWA - Stock Picks) marked a $377 million loss on rising fuel costs.

On the health-care side, biotech firm Genzyme (GENZ Quote - Cramer on GENZ - Stock Picks) saw earnings fall on rising costs, but excluding items the company edged ahead of Wall Street's expectations. Big pharma firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK Quote - Cramer on GSK - Stock Picks) likewise saw profits decline, and it said it would delay a planned share repurchase.

Pfizer (PFE Quote - Cramer on PFE - Stock Picks), a Dow component, posted profits that more than doubled year over year and topped the consensus. The solid quarter owed largely to a decline in restructuring charges and overseas sales buoyed by a weak dollar.

Also showing strength thanks to sales abroad, fast-food giant and fellow Dow stock McDonald's (MCD Quote - Cramer on MCD - Stock Picks) swung to a profit, besting analyst forecasts.

Meanwhile, soda and chips provider PepsiCo (PEP Quote - Cramer on PEP - Stock Picks) beat expectations, reaffirmed guidance and announced a $1 billion share buyback.

Tobacco concern Philip Morris International (PM Quote - Cramer on PM - Stock Picks) likewise delivered strong profits, and also raised its own earnings expectations for 2008.

Outside the earnings sphere, members of Congress have worked out a housing relief pact that would prop up mortgage companies Fannie Mae (FNM Quote - Cramer on FNM - Stock Picks) and Freddie Mac (FRE Quote - Cramer on FRE - Stock Picks).

Automaker General Motors (GM Quote - Cramer on GM - Stock Picks) announced that its second-quarter global sales slipped on weak U.S. demand, placing the company behind rival Toyota (TM Quote - Cramer on TM - Stock Picks).

In commodities, crude oil was recently down $1.37 to $127.05 a barrel after losing $3 Tuesday. Gold was shedding $7.60 to $940.90 an ounce.

As for the bond market, 10-year Treasury notes were down 6/32 in price to yield 4.12%. The 30-year was off 4/32, yielding 4.67%. The dollar was stronger against the euro and yen, but weaker vs. the pound.

Traders will take in a few macroeconomic data points, including weekly crude inventories and the Federal Reserve's beige book, a summary of anecdotal economic information collected by each of the central bank's regional branches.

Abroad, global markets were stronger. The FTSE in London, the DAX in Frankfurt, Japan's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng all climbed.