Stocks open mixed as Geithner heads to Hill for grilling

Stocks are mixed this morning, as Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner heads to Capitol Hill for what is sure to be a bloody whipping over, once again, AIG.

In the first 15 minutes of trading, the Dow is down just a tick from under flat.

The broader S&P 500 is up by the same amount and the tech-heavy Nasdaq is up about three-tenths of 1 percent.

The big Washington news today is the 10 a.m. grilling of Geithner and his predecessor Hank Paulson on Capitol Hill. It looks like the New York Fed, when Geithner was heading it up, told AIG not to reveal 100 percent payments to counter-parties using government bailout money. Members of Congress will want to know what if anything Paulson and Geithner authorized. Also, of course, President Obama gives his first State of the Union speech tonight.

The big product news today is the 1 p.m. Apple reveal of its new Tablet/iSlate/Whatever-It-Is.

The big stock news this morning is the way Toyota shares are diving (down about 7 percent so far) following yesterday's unprecedented halt in sales of several of its vehicle lines because of a sticking accelerator pedal.