Small caps close down 3%; RVSB, JAKK and OXPS lead gainers

The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) closed down nearly 3% on Tuesday and is now down 31% for the year. For the first time in many months, the Dow has actually pulled virtually even with the Russell for 2008, while the S&P 500 is off 35%. Today’s small-cap gainers are Riverview Bancorp (Nasdaq:RVSB), Jakks Pacific (Nasdaq:JAKK) and optionsXpress (Nasdaq:OXPS).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• The worst performing broad market sectors were metals and mining stocks, steel, gold, integrated oil and gas firms and coal shares.
• If Monday’s big rally was primarily about energy, then the main theme in motion today was about the economy and whether or not global slowing would continue to get in the way of the stock market.
• From a global standpoint, a recession in the United States and a sharp downturn around the world will hurt demand for commodity goods, a theme that played out today.
• Highlighting the bruised demand is copper, which today crumbled to the lowest point since Dec. 2005 and is now 50% from the spring highs.
• Crude oil futures plunged some 4% and quickly took some of the shine off Monday’s energy-led rally.
• This tug-of-war between valuation and the economy is always in play for the stock market, but Tuesday was center stage as investors decided whether stocks are cheap enough to warrant the risk.
• While earnings were a big part of today’s action, it seemed like the market overlooked many of the results to focus in on worries in the . . .

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