Stocks end mixed on worries about earnings, oil

Bond prices rose Monday as the major stock indexes declined. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 4.04 percent from 4.09 percent late Friday.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research, said the market is still feeling somewhat upbeat about how earnings are shaping up so far this quarter. And that's helped to maintain some of last week's market gains, despite the pullback on Monday.

"We're having some more good news from the financials--it wasn't as bad as feared," he said. "And we've also got some buyout deals."

Some 158 members of the Standard & Poor's 500 index and 10 of the 30 Dow industrials are slated to post results this week. One of the biggest Monday was Bank of America, which reported that increased bad debt due to the housing slump pushed profits down 41 percent. However, it still surpassed expectations due to a solid performance in its business not tied to real estate. The stock rose $1.07, or 3.9 percent, to $28.56.

But another Dow component weighing in after the closing bell could rattle investor sentiment. American Express Co.'s second-quarter profit tumbled 38 percent--results that came in well short of expectations--as consumer spending slowed and credit indicators deteriorated beyond the company's expectations. The stock fell $1.29, or 3.1 percent, to $40.90 on the day and declined more than 10 percent in after-hours electronic trading.

Investors were somewhat optimistic during Monday's session that mergers and acquisitions, which have been sluggish since the credit crisis began last year, might be reviving. Swiss drug maker Roche Holding announced plans to acquire the stake in Genentech Inc. it doesn't already own for $43.7 billion, making it the seventh-largest pharmaceuticals company in the U.S.

Shares of Genentech were among the best performers during the session, rising $12.06, or 14.7 percent, to $93.88.

Yahoo Inc. fell 78 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $21.67 after the Internet portal staved off an attempt by activist shareholder Carl Icahn to take control and sell it. Icahn, who has argued in favor of selling Yahoo to Microsoft Corp., will become a Yahoo director along with two of his nominees.

In economic news, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson sought to reassure the public Sunday that the banking system is sound, while also preparing people for more troubled times ahead. "I think it's going to be months that we're working our way through this period--clearly months," he said.