Stocks in the News: IBM, Bank of America, Alcon

The following is a round-up of news likely to affect stock prices today:

International Business Machines (IBM) posted strong earnings results late Tuesday, handily beating analyst expectations. Big Blue reported earnings per share of $3.59, beating the $3.47 per share Wall Street analysts had been expecting. It also offered a strong earnings outlook for 2010, guiding full-year earnings at $11.00 per share, which is higher than analysts had projected. Nonetheless, shares declined 1.6% ahead of the bell.