Russell takes flight; ATPG, OEH, and AXL lead gainers

Small-cap stocks took flight into mid-session trading, outperforming large caps as investors appeared more confident in looking for “riskier” fare following three days of rallies – at least on the stock market side of things. Some of today’s small-cap gainers are ATP Oil & Gas Corporation (Nasdaq:ATPG), Orient Express Hotels Ltd. (NYSE:OEH) and American Axle & Manufacturing. (NYSE:AXL).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Tire and rubber, coal, homebuilding, metal and mining and even hotel stocks were attracting buyers so far today.   Nov 26, 2008 12:58pm
• Office electronics were up, and so were construction-themed companies.   Nov 26, 2008 12:58pm
• Looking at sector activity, automobile manufacturers were on a roll today, with General Motors Corp. up 31%.   Nov 26, 2008 12:57pm
• The market seemed willing to cast aside a batch of mostly awful economic data from this morning as no surprise.

Small Cap Gainers:

• ATP Oil & Gas Corporation jumped 30% as the offshore oil and gas firm tried to mount a lasting rally after setting long-term lows last week. See (Nasdaq:ATPG).
• Orient Express Hotels Ltd. rallied 27% as the luxury hotelier and travel company appeared to attract bargain hunters in the hotel group. See (NYSE:OEH).  
• American Axle & Manufacturing up 24% after declaring a Q4 dividend earlier this week. See (NYSE:AXL).  
• SeaChange International Inc. is up 23% as the video-on-demand software firm benefited from an earnings-related boost. See (Nasdaq:SEAC).

Small Cap Losers:

• Safe Bulkers drops another 15% today on light volume. See (NYSE:SB).  
• Arbor Realty Trust down 15% on lower-than-average volume, hovering above a 52-week low of $1.77. See (NYSE:ABR). 
• Signet Jewelers reports disappointing Q3 09 results; shares dive 11%. See (NYSE:SIG).  
• J. Crew Group shares fall 7% on weak outlook. See (NYSE:JCG).  

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