Last Updated: January 16th, 2009 11:57 AM ET---The major US equity indices have come off their high's and are now trading lower as investors focus on the government's action towards helping the big banks. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) posted a fourth-quarter loss of $1.79 billion and slashed their dividend to a penny after receiving another $20 billion from the U.S. government. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) said the funds were desperately needed to help absorb the loss from merging with Merrill Lynch, which lost a record $15.3 billion in the quarter. Bank of America is currently trading lower 10% to $7.48 a share. Citigroup (NYSE:C) also reported a large fourth-quarter loss of $8.29 billion and said they plan to reorganize the company into two separate units. Citicorp will focus on traditional banking while Citi Holdings will handle the company's riskier assets. Shares of Citigroup are trading lower by 1.2% to $3.79. Electronics retailer, Circuit City said they would begin liquidating its assets after it failed to reach a deal with creditors and lenders regarding the sale of the company. The demise of Circuit City marks the biggest retailer to fall since the credit crisis began last year. The Labor Department said this morning that consumer prices fell 0.7% in December as gasoline prices plunged by record amounts. For 2008, inflation rose at its slowest rate in more than 50 years. At the time of this report, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 17 points to 8,195, the S&P 500 is trading 3 points lower to 840 and the Nasdaq is trading 5 points lower to 1,506.

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