Small-cap stocks opened with a strong bid this morning, boosted by encouraging signs in the bank lending market, a rise in energy stocks on analyst upgrades and a perception that a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was slightly more upbeat than recent appearances. Today’s small-cap gainers are WebMD (NYSE:WBMD), Melco Crown (Nasdaq:MPEL) and McMoRan Exploration Co. (NYSE:MMR).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• On the downside, broadcast and cable TV stocks were lower, as were life health insurers and leisure product stocks
• Sectors on the rise today include coal stocks, oil equipment and oil services, oil exploration, oil and gas storage, steel, oil refiners, gas utilities, industrial gases and power products.  
• About one-third of the S&P 500 slated to release results this week
• Crude oil futures were up about $1.50 a barrel, providing a lift to energy-sensitive stocks and also to commodities in general.  

Small Cap Gainers:

• McMoRan Exploration Co. jumped some 22% on earnings news. See (NYSE:MMR).  
• Blackrock Ecosolutions Investment Trust is up 19% back to levels last seen in June. See (NYSE:BQR).  
• WebMD surges 30% on shares purchase by HLTH Corp. See (Nasdaq:WBMD).  
• Casino operator Melco Crown reiterated its City of Dreams plan on Friday. Shares are up 24%. See (Nasdaq:MPEL).  

Small Cap Losers:

• General Growth Properties attempts to sell $2 billion in preferred shares to private-equity firms to lower its debt, WSJ says. Shares are down 13%.  See (NYSE:GGP).
• HLTH Corp. plunges after announcement to terminate merger with WebMD. Shares are down 13%. See (Nasdaq:HLTH).  
• AMAG Pharma down 8% after FDA requests additional data for marketing approval for anemia drug in kidney disease patients. See (Nasdaq:AMAG).
• Syneron Medical slips 12% after the company warns for lower revenues in Q3. See (Nasdaq:ELOS).

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