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Tween Brands Inc. (Nasdaq:TWB), Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. (Nasdaq:DTG) and Isramco Inc. (Nasdaq:ISRL) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Syms Corp. (Nasdaq:SYMS), Elizabeth Arden Inc. (Nasdaq:RDEN), CPI International Inc. (Nasdaq:CPII), Herman Miller Inc. (Nasdaq:MLHR), Ener1 Inc. (Nasdaq:HEV) and Christopher & Banks Corp. (Nasdaq:CBK).

Stewardship Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:SSFN), Compass Diversified Holdings (Nasdaq:CODI) and American Caresource Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:ANCI) are among the biggest percentage losers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: LCA Vision Inc. (Nasdaq:LCAV), ViroPharma Inc. (Nasdaq:VPHM), Tween Brands Inc. (Nasdaq:TWB), Credit Acceptance Corp. (Nasdaq:CACC), Children's Place Retail Stores Inc. (Nasdaq:PLCE) and Asbury Automotive Group Inc. (Nasdaq:ABG).

MAP Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:MAPP), Syms Corp. (Nasdaq:SYMS) and AgFeed Industries Inc. (Nasdaq:FEED) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Oxford Industries Inc. (Nasdaq:OXM), Tween Brands Inc. (Nasdaq:TWB), iPCS Inc. (Nasdaq:IPCS), Origin Agritech Ltd. (Nasdaq:SEED), Cedar Income Fund REIT (Nasdaq:CDR) and Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:TYPE).

Stocks slid sharply today on weak housing data released this morning and on further stress in the financial sector as investors remain doubtful about the U.S. government’s bank plans. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were Radiant Systems (Nasdaq:RADS), SeaBright Insurance Holdings (NYSE:SBX) and The Spectranetics Corporation (Nasdaq:SPNC).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 11.04, or 2.68%, to 401.44 at closing.
• The Dow fell 1.09%, and the S&P 500 was down 1.07% at closing.
• For the year, the Russell is now down 19.62%, while the Dow is down 17.15% and the S&P 500 is down 15.32%.
• New data out this morning showed January existing home sales fell by 5.3%, to an annual rate of 4.49M last month from 4.74M in December. This is the lowest level in nearly 12 years.
• The Mortgage Bankers Association released today that U.S. mortgage applications fell last week, reflecting a sharp drop in demand for refinancing as mortgage rates ticked higher.
• The Obama administration has begun making the 20 largest U.S. banks — including Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and Citigroup (NYSE:C) — undergo "stress tests" today to see if any can weather further recessionary pressure.
• An industry association said this morning that China plans to build up a "Big 10" group of globally competitive automakers, led by General Motors partner Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corp.
• A new report out says that American International Group may scrap its plan to repay a $60 billion U.S. government loan by selling businesses, according to Bloomberg. 

Small Cap Gainers:

• Radiant System shares rose 20% on a better-than-expected Q4 profit. See (Nasdaq:RADS).
• SeaBright Insurance Holdings closed up over 15% on an FBR upgrade and a Q4 EPS that beat estimates. See (NYSE:SBX).
• The Spectranetics Corporation climbed 11% and pared some major losses seen Tuesday when the small cap reported a widened Q4 loss. See . . .

The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) had an up and down session Tuesday, but in the end the bulls won the skirmish. Small caps closed up 1.46%, while the Dow and S&P 500 lagged gains. Some of today’s small-cap gainers are Tween Brands (NYSE:TWB), DR Horton (NYSE:DHI) and Lennar Corp. (NYSE:LEN).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Tuesday morning’s report on U.S. GDP came in as expected, clearing the way for the market to start on a positive note. The report confirms that the economy is on pace for an “official” recession moniker if fourth-quarter growth contracts as expected. 
• The Fed and Treasury announced a new TAL, which will be granted initial funding of $20B via the original $700B in TARP money. 
• The Case-Shiller Home Price Index tumbled a record 17.4% from last year and the index was down 1.9% in September from the previous month.
• Retailers were in rally mode Monday, but were struggling to stay positive, just a few days in front of Black Friday.
• Tech stocks were a drag on the market, as the tech-laden Nasdaq-100 underperformed the rest of the market and shed 1% on the day.
• Crude oil took a dive today, tumbling $3.7 a barrel, or about 6.8%
• Despite the retreat on physical energy prices, energy stocks still managed to push higher today, and actually outpaced the broad market indices.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Tween Brands (NYSE:TWB) closed up 47% today, rebounding from major losses the stock saw on Monday.
• DR Horton Inc. (NYSE:DHI) jumped 38%, riding the overall housing updraft today despite reporting larger-than-expected quarterly losses.
• Lennar Corp. (NYSE:LEN) soared some 32% as the second-largest U.S. homebuilder benefited from an analyst upgrade.
• Developers Diversified Realty (NYSE:DDR) reported insider buying; shares . . .

Small-cap stocks soared into mid-session trading, with financial, energy and gold stocks driving an impressive rally to provide confirmation of Friday’s big rally. The market continues to find bullish inspiration on economic advisor appointments by President-elect Obama, who announced his team today in just the second major press conference since he won the presidential vote earlier this month. Some of today’s small-cap gainers are Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods (NYSE:WBD), General Cable Corp. (NYSE:BGC) and SL Green Realty Corp.  (NYSE:SLG).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Investment banks, brokerage firms, diverse financial instruments, wireless telecoms, homebuilders, coal, real estate services all higher.  
• Gold stocks were seeing huge gains today, boosted by safe haven flows.  
• Commodities in general were a big factor in the stock market rise today, supported by a slide in the U.S. dollar against the euro.  
• Crude oil prices extended the morning rally into midday, rising some $4 a barrel, which stoked a 5% surge in energy stocks. 

Small Cap Gainers:

• Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC jumped 39% as Russia’s largest dairy company generated a huge bounce off 52-week lows set last week. See (NYSE:WBD).  
• General Cable Corp. rallied 36% as the copper, aluminum and fiber optic cable manufacturer rose off last week’s lows with the overall bounce in commodity shares today. See (NYSE:BGC).  
• SL Green Realty Corp. jumped 35% as the real estate investment trust embraced the Citigroup bail out plan, as Citigroup is the firm’s biggest tenant. See (NYSE:SLG).  
• Dress Barn last week reports increase in Q1 sales, shares are up 10% today. See (Nasdaq:DBRN).

Small Cap Losers:

• Ann Taylor swings to Q3 loss, sees tough Q4. Shares are down 8.7% near a 52-week low of $4.21, down from a 52-week high of $32.82. See (NYSE:ANN).  
• China Eastern passenger throughput down 2.72% in October; shares tumble 12%. See (NYSE:CEA).  
• Life Time Fitness down another 10% today after the small cap announced last week that it would cute 100 jobs. See (NYSE:LTM).  
• Tween Brands is down 18% following last week's announcement of a Q3 sales, earnings drop in "challenging environment." See (NYSE:TWB).

Tween Brands Inc.’s (NYSE:TWB) stock climbed by 5% this morning following a report that at least one analyst believes the firm’s restructuring plan is a step in the right direction.

The rise is a slight rebound from the huge drop the stock suffered on Aug. 13 after the retailer widely missed analysts’ second-quarter estimates and two analysts downgraded its stock.

In an effort to improve profitability, Tween Brands said it plans to convert about 560 Limited Too stores across the country to its more “value-oriented” Justice brand — the plan being praised by an analyst this week.

Shares are at $10.24 in mid-day trading, up $0.48 from Tuesday’s close. The stock hit its 52-week-low of $7.75 on Aug. 14. It has traded as high as $39.25 in the past year.

For detailed price information and news stories on Tween Brands Inc., click TWB.

Delta Apparel Inc. (Nasdaq:DLA), Champion Enterprises Inc. (Nasdaq:CHB) and Staar Surgical Co. (Nasdaq:STAA) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.    

Also included among the results: Lithia Motors Inc. (Nasdaq:LAD), QCR Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:QCRH), Tween Brands Inc. (Nasdaq:TWB), Deltek Inc. (Nasdaq:PROJ), Oplink Communications Inc. (Nasdaq:OPLK) and Ricks Cabaret International Inc. (Nasdaq:RICK).        

Here are the biggest percentage gainers among small caps:     

Tween Brands Inc. (Nasdaq:TWB), Rainier Pacific Financial Group (Nasdaq:RPFG) and Energy Recovery Inc. (Nasdaq:ERII) are among the new 52-week lows in Wednesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.        

Also included among the results: Horsehead Holding Corp. (Nasdaq:ZINC), China East Air (Nasdaq:CEA), Clean Diesel Technologies (Nasdaq:CDTI), LNB Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq:LNBB), IRSA (Nasdaq:IRS) and Guidance Software Inc. (Nasdaq:GUID).           

Here are the new 52-week lows among small caps:           
         

Tween Brands Inc. (NYSE:TWB) hit a new 52-week low this morning, losing nearly half its value in heavy trading this morning after the retailer widely missed analysts’ second-quarter estimates and two analysts downgraded its stock.

After the market closed on Tuesday, the New Albany, Ohio-based company reported a loss of $0.27 per share, or $6.7 million, while analysts polled by Thomson First Call on average had expected a loss of $0.01 per share.

The news prompted Citigroup to downgrade the stock to “sell” from “hold”  and Friedman Billings to “underperform" from “market perform.”

In an effort to improve profitability, Tween Brands said it plans to convert about 560 Limited Too stores across the country to its more “value-oriented” Justice brand. Both brands sell fashion basics and lifestyle items to seven-to-14-year old girls but the Justice brand is about 25% less expensive and has performed better in the past few months.

By mid-day more than 5 million shares had changed hands compared with an average three-month volume of 633,631. The stock is trading at $8.13, down $6.75 from Tuesday’s close. It had traded between $12.60 and $39.88 in the past year.

For more detailed price information and news stories on Tween Brands, click TWB.

The Russell 2000 has slipped to its lows on the session midday, as a weak July retail sales report and a rebound in crude oil prices have kept small caps submerged in the red.

At 12:35 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) had skidded 6.87, or 0.92%, at 738.07, while the Dow slumped 165.2, or 1.42%, to 11,477.27.

The Census Bureau reported this morning that retail sales dropped 0.1% in July, down from June’s 0.1% uptick and the weakest in five months. Weak auto sales were the main culprit that dragged down sales, as a soft economy and sky high gas prices continued to take a toll on demand for cars. Sans autos, retail sales would have posted a 0.5% increase for July. However, even excluding auto sales, retail sales would have only been buoyed by consumption of gas on the part of higher prices, not higher demand. 

“This sales report marks only the beginning of the third quarter and though it is not looking very good for U.S. consumers, it wasn't quite as bad as expected,” BMO Capital Markets economist Jennifer Lee wrote in a note today. “But we could be seeing some final effects of the rebate checks here, and as they fade, real consumer spending likely fell for in Q3, the first in about 17 years.”

In other economic news, import prices soared 1.7%, which was above the forecast, and year-over-year prices were up 21.6%, the highest rate in 26 years.

The business inventory report came out at plus 0.7%, which was above the forecast for a rise of 0.4%. However, this data series is somewhat dated (June figures) and tends to have very little lasting impact on stock market traders.

Tween Brands Inc. (NYSE:TWB) is 6% lower in today’s trading after the teen clothing brand company was downgraded by Friedman Billings Ramsey to “market perform” from “outperform.” The research firm gave youth clothing retailer The Gymboree Corporation (Nasdaq:GYMB) the same downgrade. Overall consumer spending is down as the economy faces the hurdles of high gas prices and a crumbling housing market. The New Albany, Ohio-based Tween Brands is down 38% since January. In today’s trading, Tween Brands is off $1.04 to $15.14 at 12:52 ET, a 52-week low for the stock.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) jumped as investors reacted to news of a tech sector upgrade and a bullish earnings forecast from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT). The small-cap index rose 9.04 points, or 1.29%, to 707.42, snapping a three-day losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 54.72 points, or 0.44%, to 12,581.98.

On a year-to-date basis, the Russell 2000 has let go 7.65%, while the Dow has declined 5.15% and the S&P 500 is missing 7.34%.

Small-cap stocks began the session with a brief dip into the red but quickly recovered as investors digested news before the opening that Wal-Mart raised its earnings estimate for the first quarter of fiscal 2009, partially due to strong sales of electronics.

The index moved into positive territory shortly before 10 a.m. ET and maintained those gains until the closing, reaching a session high of 710 just before 2 p.m. ET.

Also helping the bulls establish their dominance was news before the start of trading that the semiconductor sector has been upgraded by Banc of America Securities. The sector includes small-caps EMCORE Corp. (Nasdaq:EMKR) and San Jose, Calif.-based . . .

The Pantry, Inc. (Nasdaq:PTRY), Tween Brands Inc. (NYSE:TWB) and Cascade Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:CASB) were among the new 52-week lows established during Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations or values under $750 million.

PFF Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:PFB), Downey Financial Corp. (NYSE:DSL) and First National Bancshares, Inc. (Nasdaq:FNSC) were also among the 52-week small-cap lows.

Here are today's 52-week small-cap lows:

The Pantry, Inc. (Nasdaq:PTRY), Tween Brands Inc. (NYSE:TWB) and Preferred Bank (Nasdaq:PFBC) are among the biggest percentage losers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $750 million.

Encore Capital Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:ECPG) , BMP Sunstone Corp. (Nasdaq:BJGP)and Cascade Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:CASB) are also among the top small-cap percentage losers.

Here are Thursday's biggest percentage losers among small caps:

The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) is flat as investors make sense of the latest economic and financial news.

At 9:59 a.m. ET, the small-cap index had declined 1.24 points, or 0.18%, to 697.14. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 12.86 points, or 0.10%, to 12,514.40.

Jobless claims for the week ended April 5 fell 53,000 to 357,000 from the preceding week’s upwardly revised total of 410,000, the U.S. Labor Department reported before the start of trading. Economists were expecting to see a smaller decline.

However, the four-week moving average, considered a more stable measure, rose to its highest level in more than two years.

Also making headlines before the opening was news that Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE:LEH) has liquidated three investment funds in the . . .

Shares of Tween Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TWB) are veering lower this morning after the tween girls specialty retailer said this morning that it is lowering its first-quarter earnings guidance due to a decline in its Limited Too stores’ comparable store sales and executive severance costs.

Shares skidded 20%, or $4.58, to $18.60 at 9:43 a.m. ET. For detailed price information and recent news stories about Tween Brands, click TWB.