Opening Bell Report

The markets opened lower as investors mulled over the latest batch of earnings news.  The Dow lost 62 points to 12,786 while Nasdaq fell 5 points to 2397.

On the upside

Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) posted higher earnings due to strong sales of its Transformer and Littlest Pet Shop toys.

Shares of Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) jumped to a record high after the company reported earnings that tripled due to higher production and soaring prices.

Shares of Pilgrim's Pride (NYSE: PPC) rose following an analyst upgrade of the stock citing higher chicken prices  through 2009.

On the downside

Shares of National City (NYSE: NCC) fell after the bank posted a loss and raised $6 billion from private equity firms to shore up its balance sheet significantly diluting existing shareholders.

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) posted a smaller profit while setting aside $3.3 billion in reserves for portfolio losses.

Mattel (NYSE: MAT) reported a loss on slowing sales of Barbie dolls.   The toymaker blamed higher product costs and legal fees for missing analysts' expectations of a profit of a penny per share

Analysts downgraded Caterpillar  (NYSE: CAT) on valuation.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by 5 to 3 on Nasdaq.  The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks slipped 3 points to 717.