Russell closes in the red; VOLC, NEWS, and LOJN lead gainers

Small caps were unable to hold their own today in the wake of bad housing data, the unveiling of a $75 billion mortgage relief plan and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s sharp growth-view cut for 2009.Some of today’s small-cap gainers were Volcano Corporation (Nasdaq:VOLC), NewStar Financial (Nasdaq:NEWS) and LoJack Corporation (Nasdaq:LOJN).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

•General Motors and Chrysler submitted their proposal late Tuesday to the U.S. Treasury, asking for a combined $22 billion more in emergency loans to keep the automakers from going bankrupt.  
• Before the bell, the Commerce Department reported that construction of new homes and apartments fell to a record low annual rate of 466,000 in January. 

Small Cap Gainers:

• Medical equipment manufacturer Volcano Corporation is up 12% after turning to a profit in Q4 and guiding above estimates. See (Nasdaq:VOLC).
• NewStar Financial is over 10% higher after reporting a rise in Q4 profits See (Nasdaq:NEWS).  
• LoJack Corporation, which was up 14% after the security system company released a 2009 forecast that topped analysts’ estimates. See (Nasdaq:LOJN).  
• Eagle Bulk Shipping is up 6% in pre-market, after hitting a two-month low on Tueday. See (Nasdaq:EGLE).

Small Cap Losers:

• Fitch downgrades CapitalSource to 'BB+'; shares topple 27%. See (NYSE:CSE).
• Oilsands Quest Inc. extends its steep slide, down 10% as many energy companies are limping through trading Wednesday. See (NYSE:BQI).  
• Cross Timbers Royalty Trust declares February cash distribution; shares drop over 18%. See (NYSE:CRT).  

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