U.S. Stocks Open Lower as Big Banks Report Quarterly Results

U.S. stocks opened slightly lower Wednesday as investors digest the quarterly results from Wall Street's biggest banks. Bank of America (BAC) beat earnings expectations as did Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo credited its purchase of General Electric's (GE) loan portfolio. JP Morgan Chase (JPM) was a bit more downbeat, missing expectations. It did, however, say its consumer loan business was a bright spot. Goldman Sachs (GS) and others have yet to report their quarterly numbers and will do so later this week. Intel (INTC) is also adapting to a changing technology industry. It's quarterly results reflected anemic personal computer sales but it did see some promise in the hot, new trend of cloud computing--data centers filled with tightly connected servers. Earnings continue after the closing bell today with Netflix (NFLX) being one of the most closely watched.