Earnings was once again the focus today which created a small disconnect in the major indices. The Dow 30 was held back again, down 123 though this time because of IBM. The S&P 500 sold off 4 into the close thanks to oil, and the Nasdaq 100 had a nice day up 13. Tomorrow traders will expect earnings to be the focus again though we will get numbers on unemployment and manufacturing prior to the market open.

IBM (IBM  ) shares were lower today in response to earnings which held the Dow 30 back. The company announced earnings that beat Wall street's estimates but revenue was the focus as it declined for the 20th straight quarter, slightly missing expectations due to "weak demand in its IT services business." Though shares did close lower on the day they did manage to bounce off session lows.

BlackRock (BLK  ) also announced earnings today but they were mixed. The world's largest money manager announced earnings that were better than expected but revenue missed expectations. One metric that is focused on with this name is their assets under management. That number showed growth of 14% from a year ago thanks to "strong demand for iShares exchange-traded funds", which saw record quarterly inflows of $64 billion. Due to the mixed results shares were lower on the day but remain in the range since the beginning of the year.

Morgan Stanley (MS  ) was the earnings winner today as the company announced earnings that were better than expected across the board. The Wall Street firm reported a beat on both its top and bottom lines for the first quarter. Profit saw a sharp increase of 70% while sales jumped nearly 20% as it benefited from "strength in its trading and investment banking businesses."