Russell jumps to green; MRX, WXS, and CLDA lead gainers
Small-cap stocks jumped higher on the opening, a welcome sign after the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) suffered the largest one-day loss of the year on Monday. Buying interest was stirred by optimism for a bail-out of beleaguered U.S. automakers, anticipation for another round of global rate cuts and just a plain old oversold bounce after Mondays’s rout. Some of today’s small-cap gainers are Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. (NYSE:MRX), Wright Express Corp. (NYSE:WXS) and Clinical Data Inc. (Nasdaq:CLDA).
Other Market Watch highlights today included:
• New data out: retail sales down 0.4% on a year-over-year basis for the week, down 0.9% in Nov. from last year, while off 1.1% from Oct.
• On the open, crude oil prices were up about $0.40 a barrel, and energy stocks were up about 2.4%.
• Commodity markets stabilized this morning, which was a big relief after crude oil collapsed 9% Monday.
• The Reserve Bank of Australia slashed 100 basis points off their benchmark rate last night, which was much more aggressive than expected.
• Investors were hopeful for another round of global rate cuts to stimulate the world out of recession.
Small Cap Gainers:
• Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. gapped higher and was up about 17% as the skin treatment firm resolved a patent dispute to license a generic version of it’s acne drug. See (NYSE:MRX).
• Wright Express Corp. rose 13% as the payment processing firm basically recovered Monday’s big slide. See (NYSE:WXS).
• Clinical Data Inc. rose 11% as the biotech company bounce off Monday’s severe decline amid a dearth of fresh news. See (Nasdaq:CLDA).
• America's Car-Mart Q2 earnings rise; shares climb 6.3% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:CRMT).
Small Cap Losers:
• Palm Inc. tumbled 34% as the smart phone maker lowered quarterly projections. See (Nasdaq:PALM).
• Enzon scraps spinoff of biotech division; shares tumble 16% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:ENZN).
• Solarfun Power swings to Q3 loss; shares drop nearly 13% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:SOLF).
• Skyworks Solutions Inc. gapped lower and slumped 13% after the analog semiconductor firm lowered guidance. See (Nasdaq:SWKS).
Other Market Watch highlights today included:
• New data out: retail sales down 0.4% on a year-over-year basis for the week, down 0.9% in Nov. from last year, while off 1.1% from Oct.
• On the open, crude oil prices were up about $0.40 a barrel, and energy stocks were up about 2.4%.
• Commodity markets stabilized this morning, which was a big relief after crude oil collapsed 9% Monday.
• The Reserve Bank of Australia slashed 100 basis points off their benchmark rate last night, which was much more aggressive than expected.
• Investors were hopeful for another round of global rate cuts to stimulate the world out of recession.
Small Cap Gainers:
• Medicis Pharmaceutical Corp. gapped higher and was up about 17% as the skin treatment firm resolved a patent dispute to license a generic version of it’s acne drug. See (NYSE:MRX).
• Wright Express Corp. rose 13% as the payment processing firm basically recovered Monday’s big slide. See (NYSE:WXS).
• Clinical Data Inc. rose 11% as the biotech company bounce off Monday’s severe decline amid a dearth of fresh news. See (Nasdaq:CLDA).
• America's Car-Mart Q2 earnings rise; shares climb 6.3% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:CRMT).
Small Cap Losers:
• Palm Inc. tumbled 34% as the smart phone maker lowered quarterly projections. See (Nasdaq:PALM).
• Enzon scraps spinoff of biotech division; shares tumble 16% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:ENZN).
• Solarfun Power swings to Q3 loss; shares drop nearly 13% in pre-market. See (Nasdaq:SOLF).
• Skyworks Solutions Inc. gapped lower and slumped 13% after the analog semiconductor firm lowered guidance. See (Nasdaq:SWKS).
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