Stocks Ease Off Highs in Face of Data

Some of Merrill Lynch's high profile talent is falling between Bank of America's (BAC Quote) fingers days after BofA closed its acquisition, according to reports Tuesday. Bob McCann, who previously led Merrill's retail brokerage has stepped down. The brokerage -- the biggest in the U.S. market, with 16,000 financial advisers and the largest pool of retail investor money on the Street - is considered the primary reason for the acquisition, according to reports by CNBC and MarketWatch.

Domestic automakers aired 30%-plus declines in December sales on Monday, but the problems are global. Foreign automaker Toyota (TM Quote), which itself revealed a 37% decline in U.S. sales, is feeling the strain at home too. On Tuesday, the company said it would suspend production at all 12 of its plants in Japan for 11 days to adjust for the decrease in global demand.

On Tuesday, techies and investors will be watching for new products at Macworld in San Francisco.

In analyst actions, Oppenheimer upgraded Apple(AAPL Quote) to outperform and raised its price target a day after CEO Steve Jobs wrote a "Dear Apple Community" letter on his health, reassuring investors he'd stay at the helm.

Also, Merriman upgraded Google (GOOG Quote) to neutral from sell, while Bernstein, which has an outperform rating, cut its estimates for the company.

In commodities, oil was recently higher by 40 cents at $49.21 a barrel, while gold gave up $10.20 to $847.60 an ounce.

OPEC compliance with supply cuts and the Israeli offensive in Gaza have played into headlines about rising oil prices. But more so is the intensifying gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine. According Reuters, flows of Russian gas through Ukraine to Bulgaria, Turkey, Macedonia, Greece and Croatia have come to a halt. The European Union, which relies heavily on Russia for its gas, is urging resolution.