Sharply Lower Open As Earnings Disappoint

Disappointing earnings sent the markets down to a sharply lower open with the Dow plunging 171 points to 10,187. Nasdaq plummeted 42 points to 2206.

On the upside

The government awarded AVI Biopharma (Nasdaq: AVII) a contract worth a potential $291 million to develop therapeutic candidates for Ebola and Marburg viruses.

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) agreed to settle civil fraud charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission with the payment of a $550 million fine.

Although Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCHW) reported flat second quarter earnings, the results topped analyst estimates.

On the downside

A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel rejected Vivus' (Nasdaq: VVUS) obesity treatment Qnexa citing safety concerns.

Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) reported higher second quarter earnings but the results fell short of expectations.

Second quarter earnings for Mattel (Nasdaq: MAT) more than doubled but still missed estimates.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 4 to 1 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks tumbled 12 points to 622.