More earnings news: $IBM earnings beat estimates by 6 cents. Bank of America ($BAC) and Citigroup ($C) shares were leading the financial sector lower. 
Late breaking news is Cisco ($CSCO) will cut 6,500 jobs. Also Borders announced the closure of 399 stores and petitioned the judge to liquidate the company which should negatively affect some REITs ($VNQ, $IYR and etc). 
Gold ($GLD) advanced to new record highs and was followed higher by silver ($SLV) while the dollar rallied slightly. The rumor remains the Chinese central bank is a big buyer of euros looking to backstop their long positions. In the meantime, bonds were mostly flat on the day with U.S. bond ($IEF) investors hesitant over debt talks.