The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEX: ^DJI) was fighting for a win today, and as the closing bell rang, the index managed to get it by 5 points or 0.04%. With the Dow now at 13,557, and on a three-day winning streak, investors have a lot to be happy about. Investors are currently distracted from the global economic fears and more focused on individual companies as they report third-quarter earnings.

Only seven of the Dow's 30 components finished the trading session in the red, the three biggest losers today were IBM (NYSE: IBM), Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), and UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH); find out why they moved lower today by clicking here. Or stick with me to find out why Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), and Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) moved lower today.

So why are they down?
Cisco moved lower today by 0.78% after Cantor Fitzgerald lowered the company's stock. The rating changed from "buy" to "hold," with the price target dropping from $20.50 per share to $19.50. The analyst believes the company's "recovery thesis" may take "another one to two quarters" to occur. Find out more about this downgrade and a few others by clicking here.

Bank of America had an off day, with shares losing 0.21% of their value. The company announced earnings this morning, and the quick takeaway is that the bank earned a measly $340 million on $20.7 billion in revenue. Compare that with the $6.2 billion it earned on $28.7 billion in revenue during the same quarter last year. John Maxfield breaks down the full earnings report here.

The Golden Arches lost 0.44% today. McDonald's is set to announce earnings on Oct. 19, and the drop today may be due to investors who are taking money off the table before that report. Analysts are estimating per-share profit of $1.47, which is higher than the $1.45 the company posted last year during the third quarter. Projections have already been cut from $1.54 per share, and if the fast-food chain misses the revised estimates, shares will probably tank.

Finally, Coca-Cola rounds out the seven losers for the day. Shares slid lower by 0.42%. While Coke announced earnings yesterday that missed expectations, its rival PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) announced third-quarter results today that beat analysts' figures. Both companies saw revenue drop this year compared with last year's third quarter, and both expect full-year earnings to be lower than 2011's.