Tuesday's Summary....

U.S. Markets

Dow -10.99 (-0.09%)
Nasdaq -15.60 (-0.67%)
S&P 500 -1.21 (-0.09%)

News That Moved the Market

Another Afternoon Sell-Off. Erasing a positive start spurred by Wal-Mart's (WMT, +0.4%) better than expected quarterly report, the markets folded under selling pressure in afternoon trading. News that a refinery owned by Alon USA Energy (ALJ, -5.4%) exploded yesterday in Texas, along with worries that OPEC may cut output at its next meeting in March pushed crude prices up 4.7% to close at $100.01/barrel. Unrest in Nigeria also played a role in the energy rally. For today at least, the economic slowdown decreasing demands for crude took a back seat to other news. Though the losses do not look so bad, consider that the S&P closed 1.0% lower from its session high, while the Nasdaq lost 2.0% from its high.

HP Comes Through. Hewlett-Packard (HPQ, +0.66% day, +4.4% A.H.) jumped in after hours trading after reporting better than expected results. Hewlett was able to find success by cutting costs and racking up strong sales outside the U.S. The company's EPS forecast for next quarter beat analysts' estimates by a penny.

Lehman To Report Larger Writedown. The Wall Street Journal reported Lehman Bros. (LEH,-2.2%) is now facing a $1.3 billion writedown. Though the number is not as massive as some of its counterparts, it is still bigger than the company estimated and created whispers that perhaps the company is not managing their risk as well as anticipated or that the market for commercial real estate loans, which Lehman owns a great deal of, is deteriorating.

Cell Phone Price Wars Heat Up. Verizon (VZ, -6.6%) announced it will offer a $99.99/month package with unlimited minutes. As a result, AT&T(T, -5.3%) also came out with a similar deal, sparking fears of a nasty price war in the cell phone provider industry. The Telecom sector finished 5.1% lower.

Tomorrow Notable Earnings:

Host Hotels & Resorts Inc.(HST) Before Open
BNP PARIBAS (BNP.PA) Before Open

Economic Events:

8:30 AM: CPI
8:30 AM: Housing Starts
8:30 AM: Building Permits
10:30 AM: Crude Inventories
2:00 PM FOMC Minutes