Friday was a mixed day for the stock market; the Dow Jones Industrials fell slightly even as the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) and Nasdaq Composite finished higher. The S&P 500’s gains of about a fifth of a percent were propelled in part by favorable economic data showing that retail sales climbed by 0.6% in December, driven by strong performance in the automotive sector. Solid bank earnings were also a positive for the market, but some stocks missed out on the good news and fell sharply.