December starts out dreary for small-cap stocks; MNT, QI, and GGP lead gainers

Small-cap stocks started out the new month with a bearish bang, sinking hard amid gloomy manufacturing data around the world, which weighed on industrial and commodity stocks. Today's small-cap gainers are Mentor Corp. (NYSE:MNT), Qimonda (NYSE:QI) and General Growth (NYSE:GGP).

Today's Market Watch highlights included:

• From a money flow perspective, investors appeared to be fleeing stocks for safe-haven outlets in the credit markets.  
• The dollar was up about 0.5% against the euro, which also weighed on commodity prices.  
• Energy stocks were also an early drag on the market, taking a cue from sinking crude oil prices, which were down $4 this morning.  
• The construction spending report was pegged at minus 1.2%, also below the projection for a dip of 0.9%.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Johnson & Johnson to buy Mentor Corp., which is leaping about 90% in pre-market. See (NYSE:MNT).  
• Qimonda up about 30% in pre-market, reports progress on partner talks, delays results. See (NYSE:QI).  
• General Growth pops 34% in pre-market after receiving loan extension. See (NYSE:GGP).  

Small Cap Losers:

• Union Drilling Inc. is off 22% as the natural gas driller tumbled with other energy names such as Patriot Coal Corp, down 14%. See (Nasdaq:UDRL) and (NYSE:PCX).  
• Teekay Tankers Ltd. is down 12%, correcting lower after a huge rally day Friday. See (NYSE:TNK).  
• Solarfun Power Holdings down over 8% in pre-market as energy, solar stocks are all seeing steep declines before the bell. See (Nasdaq:SOLF).
• UAL Corp. is down 6% after the airline filed a mixed shelf to offer securities. See (Nasdaq:UAUA).  

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