Russell closes over 2% higher; ANL, AHD and ANN lead gainers

The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) pushed 2.3% higher on Wednesday and is now down 38% for the year, while the Dow is down 34% for 2008 and the S&P 500 is down 39%. Some of today’s small-cap gainers are American Land Lease (NYSE:ANL), Atlas Pipeline Holding (NYSE:AHD) and Ann Taylor Stores (NYSE:ANN).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• The MBA Mortgage Application Index came out this morning, and showed a mild dip off last week’s record advance when the index doubled.
• The wholesale inventory report came out at minus 1.1%, which was quite a bit worse than the forecast for a drop of 0.1%.
• The top-performing sectors were dominated by commodities: coal, gold, oil and gas drillers, aluminum, metal and mining shares were all up.
• The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund rallied 5%, far outpacing the rest of the market.
• Financial shares were a drag on the bullish party, as concerns about the credit crisis and tight lending continue to be in play.
• Today’s three-year note auction came in at a higher-than-expected yield, which provided some relief to stocks overall.

Small Cap Gainers:

• American Land Lease Inc. (NYSE:ANL) gapped higher on news that the real estate investment trust was being bought at a huge premium to previous capitalization. ANL shares stormed 221% higher on the news.
• Atlas Pipeline Holding LP (NYSE:AHD) rallied 45% to close above the 20-day moving average for the first time since late September.
• Ann Taylor Stores Corp. (NYSE:ANN) jumped 20% and itself closed above . . .

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