Banks such as JPMorgan, Citi, and Goldman Sachs started the earnings season off on a positive note when all beat expectations on the top and bottom lines.

We saw this manifest itself in a number of ways, notably MSNBC’s lower ratings, which right-wingers crowed about on social ...

U.S. stock indexes drifted lower Thursday following a mixed set of earnings reports from Morgan Stanley, UnitedHealth Group and other big companies.