The markets closed modestly lower as mortgage delinquencies rose at Countrywide. The Dow dropped 29 points to 12,348 while Nasdaq lost 11 points to 2322.

On the upside

Fourth quarter earnings rose to beat expectations for Cognex (Nasdaq: CGNX).

Although first earnings dropped for Brocade Communications Systems (Nasdaq: BRCD), the results beat expectations and the data networking company affirmed its outlook.

Radian Group (NYSE: RDN) swung to a fourth quarter loss but CEO S. A. Ibrahim said that the company has increased its loss reserves to $1.3 billion.

On the downside

Premier Exhibitions (Nasdaq: PRXI) vice president and chief financial officer Stephen Couture resigned effective immediately.

Shares of Yingli Green Energy Holding (NYSE: YGE) fell despite reporting sharply higher fourth quarter earnings.

Barnes Group (NYSE: B) reported lower fourth quarter earnings that fell short of estimates.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 9 to 7 on the NYSE and by more than 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 4 points to 702.