Russell poised for opening slide

Small-cap stocks were expected to open lower, in line with overnight declines tied to firm energy prices and renewed fretting about companies with ties to the banking, financial and mortgage arena. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was off about 0.5% in after-hours trading, which would translate to a cash opening near 721.

Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) posted earnings that disappointed the market, which only served to further stoke concerns about the housing slump and credit market crunch. Fannie Mae shares were down about 8% in overnight trading. The market already was unsettled about financial shares Monday when Countrywide Financial Corp. (NYSE:CFC) tumbled over 10% amid analyst concerns about the mortgage lending firm in the aftermath of a takeover by Bank of America (NYSE:BAC).

Last night, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the mortgage markets were still stressed and posed a threat to the economy. He also said that “finding ways to avoid preventable foreclosures is a legitimate and important concern of . . .

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