CNBC's Margaret Brennan - Lowered earnings and a spike in oil prices sensed starts lower with Dow down by 49 points and the Nasdaq trading down 27 points on the day and the biggest decliners were consumer retail stocks, which saw pressure in the anticipation of weak same store sales reports. One big drag on the consumer right now, high fuel prices, crude oil closed at a new record high of a USD 110.87/bbl following a government report showing a slide in inventory.

Financial stocks dragged down again today with latest news from Goldman Sachs, an investment bank gave a glimpse into their exposure in the sub-prime mortgage related mess. The reported a surge in illiquid securities from 10-13%, of total assets, shares dropped more than 2%, Lehman declined more than 7% on the day.