On the upside

Motorola (NYSE: MOT) posted sharply lower earnings, but boosted its outlook for the 4th quarter.

Insurance bellwether Aetna (NYSE: AET) posted higher profits that beat expectations due to lower costs and growing membership.

VMWare (NYSE: VMW) posted profits that beat estimates as the virtualization software company nearly doubled its revenues versus the year-ago quarter.

On the downside

Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) posted higher revenues, but profits fell due to slower customer growth and competition from phone and satellite TV services.

Symantec (Nasdaq: SYMC) posted higher revenues and profits that beat estimates, but analysts were dismayed by the security software maker's guidance for the 3rd quarter.

Investors sold off on shares of Celgene (Nasdaq: CELG) after the biotechnology company lowered its 2007 revenue outlook while maintaining its profit targets.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a slim margin on both the NYSE and Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks held steady at 810.