US stocks closed lower Tuesday, but the closing changes tell only part of the story. The Dow swung through nearly 729 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite traded on both sides of unchanged. The Nasdaq 100 never made it into positive territory.Earnings season got underway with JPMorgan, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Johnson & Johnson and UnitedHealth reporting. The results were mixed, but the share-price reaction was consistent: all six finished lower. Even earnings beats and improved guidance were not enough to keep buyers in control.Attention now turns to September’s US CPI report, due Wednesday at 8:30 AM ET. That gives traders another important test as they weigh corporate earnings against the inflation outlook.The closing numbersDow Industrial Average: down 181.02 points, or 0.35%, at 51,675.16.S&P 500: down 1.73 points, or 0.02%, at 7,805.51.Nasdaq Composite: down 41.52 points, or 0.15%, at 27,204.38.Russell 2000: down 11.10 points, or 0.40%, at 2,783.38.Nasdaq 100: down 95.22 points, or 0.31%, at 30,569.48.Buyers and sellers both had their shotThe intraday extremes highlight the back-and-forth trading:Dow: up 466.06 points at the high; down 263.00 points at the low. That was a 729.06-point range.S&P 500: up 6.91 points at the high; down 21.13 points at the low.Nasdaq Composite: up 31.98 points at the high; down 129.82 points at the low.Nasdaq 100: down 68.89 points at its best level; down 292.40 points at its worst.The Dow buyers had their shot, but could not hold the gains. Sellers also failed to keep the broader indices near their lows. The S&P ended only marginally lower, while the Nasdaq 100 recovered nearly 200 points from its weakest level.That recovery helped limit the damage. It did not turn the session positive.Earnings: the results and the reactionGoldman Sachs: beat earnings and revenue, but shares fell 0.23%. EPS of $17.01 exceeded $13.07 expected, while revenue of $18.7 billion topped the $16.84 billion estimate.JPMorgan Chase: missed earnings and revenue; shares fell 0.88%. EPS of $5.57 fell short of $5.93 expected, and revenue of $50.2 billion missed the $51.23 billion estimate. The bank raised its full-year net interest income outlook to $106.2 billion, above its previous $105.5 billion guidance and the $105.28 billion estimate.Wells Fargo: beat earnings, but missed revenue and net interest income; shares fell 3.12%. EPS of $1.87 topped $1.85 expected. Revenue of $21.9 billion missed $22.31 billion expected, while net interest income of $12.5 billion fell below the $12.7 billion estimate.Citigroup: shares fell 5.60%, the largest decline among the four reporting banks.Johnson & Johnson: missed adjusted earnings, with revenue slightly above forecast; shares fell 5.73%. Adjusted EPS of $2.59 missed $2.67 expected. Revenue of $25.4 billion edged above the $25.38 billion estimate. Full-year adjusted EPS guidance was raised to $11.05–$11.15 from $10.96–$11.11.UnitedHealth: beat earnings and revenue, with guidance above expectations; shares still slipped 0.20%. Adjusted EPS of $4.69 exceeded $4.12 expected, and revenue of $112.7 billion topped $111.31 billion expected. Full-year adjusted EPS is projected at at least $20.50, versus $19.80 expected.Chip shares struggle, but some technology names rallySeveral semiconductor and related names were among the notable losers:Applied Materials: down 6.69%.Cadence Design Systems: down 4.08%.Micron: down 3.65%.KLA: down 3.22%.SK hynix ADR: down 3.19%.Caterpillar also fell 3.34%.There were pockets of strength, however. Oracle and Meta moved higher, while Texas Instruments bucked the weakness in several chip-related peers.Notable gainers included:Oracle: up 4.28%.First Solar: up 3.83%.Deere: up 2.75%.Meta Platforms: up 2.63%.Shake Shack: up 2.57%.CF Industries: up 2.31%.Box: up 2.29%.Texas Instruments: up 2.17%.General Motors: up 2.01%.Trading lesson: a beat is not a buy signalGoldman Sachs and UnitedHealth beat earnings and revenue expectations, yet both closed lower. For a newer trader, that is a useful reminder: the headline result and the market reaction are two different things.Watch whether buyers can hold the initial gains and sustain a move above resistance. If those gains disappear, the earnings beat alone is not enough confirmation. Today’s wide swings also show why the closing change can understate how much risk traders faced during the session.For other stock views in the market today, see Itai's post HERE. This article was written by Greg Michalowski at investinglive.com.