Facebook’s Downgrades and Corporate America’s Bad Reputation: Market Recap

The markets were mixed on Tuesday. Earnings continued to come in strong on average, but there wasn’t enough love to go around and the Nasdaq missed out.

At the close: DJIA: +0.34%, S&P 500: +0.16%, NASDAQ: -0.17%.

On the commodities front, Oil (NYSE:USO) climbed 0.39 percent to $97.41 per barrel, rising in part due to an announcement by the U.S. Energy Information Administration indicating that a rapid increase in North American supply may not be enough to keep gasoline prices in check, as demand expectations were revised upward. Gas prices are expected to peak at $3.73 in May.

Precious metals were up, with Gold (NYSE:GLD) climbing 0.15 percent to $1,651.60 per ounce after hitting a five-week low on Monday. Silver (NYSE:SLV) gained 0.65 percent, rising to $31.11 per ounce. The yield on the 10-year T-Bill climbed 0.014 points to 1.978 percent.

Here’s your Cheat Sheet to today’s top stock stories:

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) closed the day down 3.15 percent after getting hit with downgrades from analysts at Sanford Bernstein and BTIG. The downgrades followed a series of ratings revisions that came immediately following the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year earnings reports, which revealed that costs were escalating much faster than revenues… (Read more.)

Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) could be in for a long struggle to go private. CEO Michael Dell secured a $13.65 per share buyout deal, but the PC-maker’s largest shareholder — Southeastern Asset Management at an 8.44 percent stake — said it was looking for something closer to $24 per share… (Read more.)