On the upside

Berkshire Hathaway offered $100 a share to Burlington Northern Santa Fe (NYSE: BNI), the nation's 2nd largest railroad operator.

Cablevision Systems (NYSE: CVC) posted 3rd quarter profits that tripled as voice subscribers topped 2 million.

Shares of Medco Health Solutions (NYSE: MHS) rose after the largest U.S. pharmacy benefits manager posted higher quarterly profits and raised its 2010 earnings outlook.

Viacom (NYSE: VIA) reported lower revenues and higher profits due to cost-cutting efforts and solid video game and home entertainment sales.

On the downside

Energizer (NYSE: ENR) posted lower sales and earnings due to sluggish battery sales that outweighed growing personal care product sales.

A Morgan Stanley analyst downgraded chip giant Intel (Nasdaq: INTC).

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 5 points to 557.