The markets extended its losses during the midday with the Dow dropping 76 points to 13,850 over economic concerns. Nasdaq tumbled 34 points to 3130.

On the upside

Safeway (NYSE: SWY) reported higher fourth quarter earnings that beat expectations by a wide margin as revenue rose.

A Seeking Alpha contributor expects shares of CombiMatrix (Nasdaq: CBMX) to double the end of February.

HomeAway (Nasdaq: AWAY) reported higher fourth quarter earnings and revenue and forecast current quarter revenue ahead of estimates prompting an upgrade.

On the downside

Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) introduced a new family of RF360 Front End Solution chips prompting an analyst to downgrade competitors RF Micro Devices (Nasdaq: RFMD) and Skyworks Solutions (Nasdaq: SWKS).

Profit taking sank shares of Chelsea Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CHTP).

Fourth quarter earnings plunged for Synacor (Nasdaq: SYNC).

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index dropped 10 points to 1501.