The markets opened lower as investors worried about spreading credit problems. The Dow lost 25 points to 12,715 while Nasdaq dropped 20 points to 2454.

On the upside

Illumina (Nasdaq: ILMN) agreed to pay Affymetrix (Nasdaq: AFFX) a one-time sum of $90 million and no royalties to end a series of patent lawsuits between the two companies.

Shares of E-Trade (Nasdaq: ETFC) rose on hopes that the restructuring will reduce risk exposure to the online brokerage's portfolio.

Airline stocks rose on an analyst upgrade as shares of UAL (Nasdaq: UAUA), which operates United Airlines, surged.

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On the downside

Capital One Financial (NYSE: COF) lowered its 2007 earnings forecast due to delinquent loans and a $1.9 billion provision for loan losses.

Shares of Men's Wearhouse (NYSE: MW) tumbled after the retail clothing chain slashed its 4th quarter profit forecast due to slower same-store sales.

Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) lowered its 4th quarter and full year guidance due to lower year-to-year same-store sales and recorded music sales that missed expectations.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 2 to 1 on both the NYSE and Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks dropped 6 points to 705.