On The Fly: Top stock stories for Wednesday

Stocks opened sharply lower thanks in part to Apple (AAPL) shares, which lost ground following the iPhone maker's quarterly earnings report. Apple's slide put pressure on the Nasdaq throughout the entire session while the Dow and Nasdaq spent the day trying to get out from its shadow. The Dow and S&P eventually recovered and turned positive, then spent a good part of the afternoon crossing back and forth across the flat line. As investors looked to the close and the next round of earnings the market drifted into the close, with the Dow holding on to a narrow gain and the Nasdaq remaining the laggard with a loss of over 0.5%. ECONOMIC NEWS: In the U.S., the MBA mortgage applications composite index was down 4.1% for the week. The International trade in goods deficit narrowed to $56.1B in September, with consensus calling for a deficit of $60.5B. Markit's services PMI climbed to 54.8 in October. New home sales rebounded to a rate of 593,000 in October, though that was below expectations for a rate of 601,000 units. Crude oil inventories showed a 553,000 draw versus consensus for a 2.0M barrel build for the week of October 21. COMPANY NEWS: Shares of Apple dropped 2.25% to $115.59 despite the tech giant reporting better than expected quarterly earnings per share and revenue. The company's worse than expected margin forecast for the holiday quarter has been cited as having raised concerns about its ability to capitalize on high demand for its larger screen phones... Meanwhile, Comcast (CMCSA) announced quarterly results above consensus expectations, driven by NBCUniversal's strong growth powered by the Rio Olympics. However, the stock dropped about 3%. Coca-Cola (KO) also ended the trading day with a decline of about 0.25% despite reporting better than expected earnings and revenues... Conversely, Boeing (BA) closed 4.7% higher after reporting better than expected earnings and boosting its outlook for the year. MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers was NCR (NCR), which advanced 14.5% after reporting better than expected third quarter earnings per share and revenue. Also higher after earnings was Akamai Technologies (AKAM), which gained 14.6% after the cloud services provider beat Wall Street third quarter forecasts. Additionally, Six Flags (SIX) rose 5.2% despite reporting a surprise revenue decline as attendance fell, which the theme-park operator blamed on adverse weather. Among the noteworthy losers was Edwards Lifesciences (EW), which fell 17% after the medical-device maker reported lower than expected sales of its minimally invasive heart valves in the third quarter. Also lower after earnings was Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), which slid 9.3% after the company reported weaker than expected third quarter results and continued sales losses in the wake of its food safety issues. Additionally, Pandora Media (P) dropped 3.4% after the company cut its guidance as the number of active listeners edged down while expenses climbed, causing it to fall short of revenue and profit expectations. INDEXES: The Dow rose 30.06, or 0.17%, to 18,199.33, the Nasdaq lost 33.13, or 0.63%, to 5,250.27, and the S&P 500 declined 3.73, or 0.17%, to 2,139.43.