QE Finally Ends - Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)

U.S. stocks were marginally lower as traders and investors begin debating the effects of the markets in an uncertain post Quantitative Easing era.

The FOMC has officially tapered the remaining $15 billion of its monthly asset purchases, thus ending the era of quantitative easing for the time being.

The central bank reaffirmed it plans on keeping interest rates low for a "considerable time."

On deck for Thursday, third quarter real GDP data along will be released Thursday at 8:30 a.m. while Fed Chair Janet Yellen will make welcoming remarks at a Fed conference in Washington with no Q&A follow up session.

The Dow lost 0.18 percent, closing at 16,974.31.
The S&P 500 lost 0.14 percent, closing at 1,982.30.
The Nasdaq lost 0.33 percent, closing at 4,549.23.
Gold lost 1.42 percent, trading at $1,211.60 an ounce.
Oil gained 0.93 percent, trading at $82.18 a barrel.
Silver lost 0.87 percent, trading at $17.14 an ounce.

News Of Note

MBA Mortgage Composite Index declined 6.6 percent after rising 11.6 percent last week.

EIA Crude Inventories rose 2.1 million barrels (versus expectations of 3.4 million barrels) after rising 7.1 million barrels last week.

Analyst Upgrades And Downgrades Of Note

Analysts at Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of Alibaba BABA with an Overweight rating and $111 price target. Analysts at Deutsche Bank initiated coverage with a Buy rating and $112.70 price target. Analysts at Raymond James initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and $115 price target. Analysts at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey initiated coverage with a Buy rating and $120 price target. Shares lost 1.37 percent, closing at $98.31.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Amazon.com AMZN with an Overweight rating and $420 price target. Shares lost 0.61 percent, closing at $293.79.

Analysts at Tigress Financial downgraded Costco Wholesale COST to Buy from Strong Buy. Shares hit new 52-week highs of $132.00 before closing the day at $131.91, up 0.65 percent.

Analysts at Barclays maintained an Equal-Weight rating on Dow Chemical DOW with a price target lowered to $52 from a previous $58. Shares lost 1.25 percent, closing at $47.38.

Analysts at Citigroup maintained a Buy rating on E.I. du Pont DD with a price target raised to $78 from a previous $75. Analysts at Barclays maintained an Equal-Weight rating with a price target raised to $72 from a previous $70. Shares lost 1.69 percent, closing at $66.80.

Analysts at Canaccord Genuity maintained a Buy rating on Facebook FB with a price target raised to $88 from a previous $84. Analysts at FBN Securities maintained an Outperform rating with a price target lowered to $90 from a previous $95. Shares lost 6.06 percent, closing at $75.88.

Analysts at Piper Jaffray downgraded InvenSense INVN to Neutral from Overweight with a price target lowered to $17 from a previous $29. Analysts at Imperial Capital maintained an Outperform rating with a price target lowered to $23 from a previous $28. Shares lost 25.14 percent, closing at $16.08.

Analysts at Barclays maintained an Equal-Weight rating on PPG Industries PPG with a price target lowered to $215 from a previous $230. Shares lost 1.71 percent, closing at $192.05.

Equities-Specific News Of Note

UPS UPS said that it expects to see its package volume increase 11 percent to 585 million this December. Shares lost 0.27 percent, closing at $102.62.

Hewlett-Packard HPQ detailed its new 3-D printing machine with a four step inkjet process known as Multi Jet Fusion that can operate 10,000 nozzles at the same time. Shares lost 0.45 percent, closing at $35.38.

Nearly 400 Tesla Motors TSLA vehicles will be exempt from a $12,000 license fee as part of the Chinese government's initiatives to promote electric vehicle sales. Shares lost 1.99 percent, closing at $237.94.

Walgreen WAG stated that it will accept Apple's AAPL mobile wallet system (Apple Pay) at all of its stores. Shares of Walgreen lost 1.37 percent, closing at $62.83 while shares of Apple hit new 52-week highs of $107.37 before closing the day at $107.31, up 0.53 percent.

Twitter TWTR announced it will partner with IBM IBM to incorporate Twitter's data into IBM's analytics and consulting tools. Shares of Twitter lost 3.88 percent, closing at $42.08 while shares of IBM lost 0.09 percent, closing at $163.46.

Winners Of Note

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles FCAU announced it will spin off its Ferrari automotive segment into a separate company with 10 percent of the company being offered to the public in the form of an IPO in 2015. Shares of Fiat gained 11.63 percent, closing at $10.85.

Decliners Of Note

Alliant Techsystems ATK said that it will evaluate its previously announced plans to merge part of its business with Orbital Sciences ORB due to Tuesday's rocket explosion at Wallops Island, Virginia. Orbital Sciences said that the explosion does not alter its 2014 financial expectations and that its merger agreement with Alliant does not include a provision for failed launches. Shares of Alliant Techsystems lost 6.50 percent, closing at $121.34 while shares of Orbital Sciences lost 16.79 percent, closing at $25.27.

Sanofi's SNY CEO Christopher Viehbacher has resigned from the company after a decision from the board of directors to remove him. Shares hit new 52-week lows of $44.50 before closing the day at $45.22, down 5.93 percent.

Cliffs Natural Resources CLF CEO Lourenco Goncalves said that it does not expect a buyer emerging for its assets in Ontario's Ring of Fire, nor does the company expect the region to be developed for decades. Shares lost 9.61 percent, closing at $10.20.

The rating agency S&P placed American Realty Capital Properties ARCP on credit watch (currently BBB-) with negative implications following a disclosure of "intentional" accounting issues at the company. Shares hit new 52-week lows of $7.85 before closing the day at $10.03, down 18.98 percent.

Earnings Of Note

WellPoint WLP reported its third quarter results this morning. The company earned $2.36 per share, beating the consensus estimate of $2.26. Revenue of $18.60 billion fell short of the consensus estimate of $18.72 billion. Shares gained 1.83 percent, closing at $122.20.

Deutsche Bank DB reported its first quarter results intraday. The company earned $1.03 per share, missing the consensus estimate of $1.41. Revenue of $8.40 billion missed the consensus estimate of $8.55 billion. Shares lost 3.94 percent, closing at $31.20.

Eaton ETN reported its third quarter results this morning. The company earned $1.29 per share, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23. Revenue of $5.70 billion missed the consensus estimate of $5.80 billion. Shares gained 1.76 percent, closing at $65.92.

Garmin GRMN reported its third quarter results this morning. The company earned $0.76 per share, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71. Revenue of $706.0 million beat the consensus estimate of $678.91 million. Shares lost 5.79 percent, closing at $53.89.

The Hershey Company HSY reported its third quarter results this morning. The company earned $1.05 per share, missing the consensus estimate of $1.08. Revenue of $1.96 billion missed the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Shares lost 1.54 percent, closing at $94.06.

Visa V reported its fourth quarter results after market close. The company earned $2.18 per share, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10. Revenue of $3.23 billion beat the consensus estimate of $3.19 billion. Shares were trading higher by 3.89 percent at $223.00 following its earnings release.

Quote Of The Day

"The Committee judges that there has been a substantial improvement in the outlook for the labor market since the inception of its current asset purchase program. Moreover, the Committee continues to see sufficient underlying strength in the broader economy to support ongoing progress toward maximum employment in a context of price stability. Accordingly, the Committee decided to conclude its asset purchase program this month." - The Federal Reserve in a statement released Wednesday.

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