Stocks remain lower; PSEC, UBSH and VOXX lead gainers

SCI Microbloggers | Oct 10, 2008 1:10pm EDT | Comment

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Small-cap stocks remained sharply lower into midday, down 4.05% and unable to sustain a morning rally for the third consecutive day. Market Watch highlights so far today include:

• When President Bush spoke this morning, small caps were off about 1.2% and the Dow was down about 80 points. The President made a surprisingly quick prepared remark, took no questions, and the began falling hard … within an hour after his appearance the Dow was down more than 350 points and small caps were off 4%.
• After multi-year highs a few months ago, cattle/hog prices are down on fears that meat consumption will suffer in a global recession.
• Gold/silver stocks and oil/energy stocks are the weakest sectors in today's trading. Footwear and retail home improvement are up fractionally. Gold is currently off 10%.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Audiovox (Nasdaq:VOXX) swings to Q2 loss. Shares of the electronic products distributor shoot up 16%.
• Union Bankshares (Nasdaq:UBSH) upgraded by Robert W. Baird; shares surge 17%.
• Stifel Nicolaus initiates coverage on Umpqua Holdings (Nasdaq:UMPQ) with a “hold” rating. Shares jump 21%.
• Airline small-cap UAL Corp. (Nasdaq:UAUA) announced Thursday it will lay off 414 mechanics; stock is currently up 8.4%.
• Private equity firm Prospect Capital (Nasdaq:PSEC) to repurchase up to $20 million in stock. Shares soar 30%.

Small Cap Losers:

• Chesapeake Energy (NYSE:CHK) down nearly 30% as it scrambles to sell assets, cut costs in face of falling energy prices, tightened credit.
• Medtox Scientific (Nasdaq:MTOX) down nearly 35% to 52-week lows ahead of a conference call slated for next week to discuss earnings.
• Dixie Group (Nasdaq:DXYN) is down some 27% to fresh 52-week lows as the small cap warned that earnings would miss the forecast.
• SMH Capital downgrades Brinker International (NYSE:EAT) to “sell” from “buy.” Shares plunge 27%.
• DineEquity (NYSE:DIN) expects lower sales at its restaurants in 2008. Shares down 23%.
• InterOil (AMEX:IOC) says it’s on track to meet third-quarter guidance, yet shares tumble 27%.