Markets are mixed this morning. Gainers include VLO (+7.91%), HES, NFLX, DHI and BSX while losers include EMC (-5.12%), DHR, AMGN, RHT and DLTR.

The Market

Pfizer Inc. (PFE) reported that fourth-quarter profit more than quadrupled, despite competition from generic drugs hurting sales and because of a $4.8 billion gain from selling its nutrition business. The world’s biggest drug maker said that its net income was $6.32 billion, or 85 cents per share, up from $1.44 billion, or 19 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, the Viagra maker would have had a profit of $3.51 billion, or 47 cents per share which was 3 cents more than analysts were expecting. Revenue fell 7 percent to $15.1 billion, mainly due to generic competition to it’s cholesterol blockbuster drug, Lipitor. Analysts had expected $14.35 billion.

Data through November 2012, released today by S&P Dow Jones Indices for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, showed home prices rose 4.5% for the 10-City Composite and 5.5% for the 20-City Composite in the 12 months ending in November 2012. In the 12 months ended in November, prices rose in 19 of the 20 cities and fell in New York. In 19 cities prices rose faster in the 12 months to November than in the 12 months to October; Cleveland prices rose at the same pace in both time periods. Phoenix led with the fastest price rise – up 22.8% in 12 months as it posted its seventh consecutive month of double-digit annual returns.

Today, the Federal Reserve begins it’s first monetary policy meeting of the year. At the conclusion of this two-day meeting Wednesday afternoon, investors will look for clues from the central bank’s statement for when the bond buying program might end.

European markets are mostly down and Asian markets closed mostly up.

Earnings Reports

Earnings reports (estimates): PFE-Pfizer ($0.44), AMZN-Amazon.com (0.79), LLY-Eli Lilly (0.79), EMC-EMC Corp (0.52), F-Ford Motor (0.25), DHR-Danaher (0.86), NEE-Nextera Energy (0.95), ITW-Illinois Tool (0.91), ACE-ACE Ltd (1.28), VLO-Valero Energy (1.20), BRCM-Broadcom (0.74), IP-International Paper (0.65), TROW-T Rowe Price (0.89), GLW-Corning (0.32), BXP-Boston Properties (0.39), NUE-Nucor (0.30), TYC-Tyco International (0.39), HOG-Harley-Davidson (0.33), PNR-Pentair (0.44), VRTX-Vertex Pharm (0.11), BSX-Boston Scientific (0.11).

Financial Calendar

0900 ET Nov S&P/CaseShiller composite-20 home price index expected +0.7% m/m and +5.5% y/y, Oct +0.66% m/m and +4.31% y/y.

1000 ET Jan consumer confidence (Conference Board) expected -1.1 to 64.0, Dec -6.4 to 65.1.

1300 ET Treasury auction of $35 billion in 5-year T-notes.

1630 ET API weekly U.S. oil statistics.

n/a FOMC 2-day meeting begins.