Closing Bell: Dow dips another day, Apple sees first drop in sales in three years; AAPL, XOM, HPQ, PCLN, WFMI, SPWRA

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) had a rough day after the stock was hit on a report from the WSJ that Apple's unit sales of computers through U.S. retail channels fell by 6% month-on-month in January. This would be the first drop in about three years. Shares were down over 4% at $90.30 late in the day.

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) managed to follow oil prices rather than the negative news flow of this morning. The world's largest oil giant was downgraded to Market Perform at Bernstein and also downgraded to Equal Weight at Barclays. Shares were up 0.5% at $72.25 late in the day.

Hewlett-Packard Corporation (NYSE: HPQ) was under the gun as problems are mounting. It met or beat earnings depending on which "consensus estimates" you used. But revenues were light, guidance was light. Shares were down 8% at $31.30 late in the day.

Priceline.com Inc. (NASDAQ: PCLN) was a real winner today. The company defied the recession by beating and raising expectations on earnings. Shares were up about 17% at $80.50 late in the day before the close.

Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI) managed to beat earnings, but this move was based upon a relative win rather than a great earnings report compared to the past. While this report was "good enough" for traders in today's climate, shares flew higher and were up over 30% at $12.70 late in the day.

To show how different solar stocks can be, here are two examples. SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ: SPWRA) was a winner and rose on 2 bits of data about its California pact coming to fruition and a new 2.2 megawatt contract out of Italy. This stock was up 1% at $32.60 late in the day, but this one had been up almost 8% today. Meanwhile, LDK Solar Company Ltd. (NYSE: LDK) shares were hit hard on a loss and on negative operating margins. Its shares were down 25% at $6.68 late in the day.