Tag - Aff

The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) started out the week with a whimper, unable to build on initial enthusiasm about a big stimulus plan out of China. Today’s small-cap gainers are Centennial Communications (Nasdaq:CYCL), American International Group (NYSE:AFF) and Wavecom SA (Nasdaq:WVCM).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Coal, agriculture products, aluminum, gold, metals and mining stocks and oil and gas drillers are top performers today.
• Anything REITS was getting hammered, as were automakers, wireless telecoms and investment bank stocks.
• Energy traders continue to be ultra sensitive to declines in equities, fearing a troubled economy will squash demand. 
• Copper jumped 8% in Asia, gold was on a roll and crude oil climbed 4% into the U.S. open.
• Crude oil futures eventually closed up about $1 a barrel for the day.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Centennial Communications Corp. soared 103% on unusually brisk volume on news that AT&T (NYSE:T) would buy the rural phone company for $944 million. See (Nasdaq:CYCL).
• U.S. plans more aid for AIG; shares closed up 62%. See (NYSE:AFF). 
• Wavecom SA jumped 23% on news that a hostile takeover of the firm was underway for the embedded wireless technology maker. See (Nasdaq:WVCM).

Small Cap Losers:

• Allied Capital Corp. tumbled some 43% today, as third quarter results did not impress investors. See (NYSE:ALD).
• Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc. was off 37% as the outdoor advertising firm also get a thumbs down on earnings news. See (NYSE:CCO).
• Southwest Water Company dropped 37% as the water, wastewater and public works firm announced it will delay third quarter 10-Q filings (SEC quarterly . . .

Small-cap stocks turned lower into midday trading, pulled down by worries about the economy, sinking REITS, soft financial stocks and concern that a big stimulus plan announced by China overnight might not be enough to jolt worldwide economic conditions out of the doldrums. Today’s small-cap gainers are AIG (NYSE:AFF), General Steel Holdings Inc. (NYSE:GSI) and Scopus Video Networks (Nasdaq:SCOP).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• S&P's: U.S. REITS may face more negative rating actions; struggling capital markets, awful real estate fundamentals also threaten REITS.  
• Energy traders continue to be ultra sensitive to declines in equities, fearing a troubled economy will squash demand.  
• Coal, agriculture products, aluminum, gold, metals and mining stocks and oil and gas drillers are top performers today.  
• The Russell was the first major index product to slip into the red, beating the Dow and S&P 500 into negative territory by about an hour.  

Small Cap Gainers:

• U.S. plans more aid for AIG; shares up 62%. See (NYSE:AFF).  
• General Steel Holdings Inc. rallied 21% ahead of its earnings release on Friday. See (NYSE:GSI).  
• Scopus Video Networks announces record Q3 2008 results; shares flying 15% higher. See (Nasdaq:SCOP).
• Top executives to buy back shares of VisionChina Media; shares up 15% in morning trading. See (Nasdaq:VISN).  
• Silver Standard last week turned to profit in Q3; shares up 15% today, rising on a commodities boost seen in the market. See (Nasdaq:SSRI)


Small Cap Losers:

• Southwest Water Company slipped 21% after announcing a delay in filings and a postponement on a conference call. See (Nasdaq:SWWC).  
• General Growth Properties down nearly 20% after a myriad of class-action lawsuits were announced against the REIT over the weekend. See (NYSE:GGP).  
• Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Q3 profit declines; shares slump 18%. See (NYSE:CCO).  
• Newcastle Investment Corp. clocked a Q3 loss on Friday; shares are 17% lower today. See (NYSE:NCT).