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Geron Corp. (Nasdaq:GERN), CoBiz Financial Inc. (Nasdaq:COBZ) and PAM Transportation Services Inc. (Nasdaq:PTSI) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: WellCare Health Plans Inc. (Nasdaq:WCG), Bottomline Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq:EPAY), Rubicon Technology Inc. (Nasdaq:RBCN), Capitol Bancorp Ltd. (Nasdaq:CBC), AngioDynamics Inceeaspan Corp.  (Nasdaq:ANGO) and Seaspan Corp. (Nasdaq:SSW).

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:CCO), WHX Corp. (Nasdaq:WXCO) and Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq:SVNT) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Meritage Homes Corp. (Nasdaq:MTH), Volt Information Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq:VOL), Retalix Ltd. (Nasdaq:RTLX), Bottomline Technologies  Inc. (Nasdaq:EPAY), John Bean Technologies Corp (Nasdaq:JBT) and Saia Inc. (Nasdaq:SAIA).

Small-cap stocks remained higher into the midday time frame, but the market did pull back well off the morning highs. A White House lifeline to automakers lifted market sentiment, and tech stocks were solid performers, helping to counter declines in retail and some commodity names, but the morning rise appeared to be on precarious footing heading into afternoon trading. Some of today’s small-cap gainers are MAP Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:MAPP), AbitibiBowater (NYSE:ABH) and China Eastern Airlines Corp.  (NYSE:CEA).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• The poorest performers so far included forest products, steel companies, home improvement retailers, footwear manufacturers and dept stores 
• The market could be vulnerable to a “buy-the-rumor, sell-the-fact” response to the automaker bailout now that the package is a known event.
• Energy stocks are up about 1% even though crude oil prices are down about $0.70 a barrel and tumbled to fresh 4 ½-year lows earlier today.  
• The best performers are industrial REITs, automobile manufacturers, IT consulting firms, gas utilities companies, managed healthcare firms.  
• Small-cap stocks remained higher into the midday time frame, but the market did pull back well off the morning highs. 

Small Cap Gainers:

• Midas Inc. jumped 24% as the Canadian life sciences company appears to be breaking out to the upside after an extended bottoming process. See (NYSE:MDS).  
• Alamo Group Inc. jumped 22% as the snow removal and tractor equipment product maker has seen unusually wide price swings this week. See (NYSE:ALG).  
• Bottomline Technologies rises 18% after announcing a partnership with QAD earlier this week. See (Nasdaq:EPAY)


Small Cap Losers:

• W Holding Company down 28% on lower-than-average volume. See (NYSE:WHI).
• FirstFed Financial is down 15% on heavy short interest. See (NYSE:FED).  
• Gushan Environmental Energy down 12% as energy stocks are on the slide today. See (NYSE:GU).  
• Gabelli & Co. downgrades Tennant to "sell;" shares fall 10%. See (NYSE:TNC). 

Small-cap stocks remained higher into the midday time frame, but the market did pull back well off the morning highs. A White House lifeline to automakers lifted market sentiment, and tech stocks were solid performers, helping to counter declines in retail and some commodity names, but the morning rise appeared to be on precarious footing heading into afternoon trading. At 12:28 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 7.17, or 1.50%, at 486.34.

Looking at S&P sector activity, the best performers were industrial real estate investment trusts (REITS), automobile manufacturers, IT consulting firms, gas utilities companies, managed health care firms, home entertainment software — and interestingly, oil exploration, oil production, and oil equipment and services firms. In fact, energy stocks were actually up about 1% at midday, even though crude oil prices were down about $0.70 a barrel and tumbled to fresh 4 ½-year lows earlier today.

The market could be vulnerable to a “buy-the-rumor, sell-the-fact” response to the automaker bailout now that the aid package is a known event. The UAW (autoworkers union) has already asked President-elect Obama to step in and address “unfair” terms within the bailout package.

Looking again at sector activity, the poorest performing groups included forest products, steel companies, home improvement retailers, footwear manufacturers, department stores and apparel and accessories firms. The S&P Retail Index was off 2.2%. This is supposed to be the busiest shopping weekend of the year, but it will take a miracle to put a nice pretty Christmas bow on this recession-year . . .

Provident Bankshares Corp (Nasdaq:PBKS), MAP Pharmaceuticals Inc (Nasdaq:MAPP) and Midas Inc (Nasdaq:MDS) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: RHI Entertainment Inc (Nasdaq:RHIE), Alamo Inc (Nasdaq:ALG), Bottomline Technologies  Inc (Nasdaq:EPAY), Neenah Paper Inc (Nasdaq:NP), Multi Color Corp (Nasdaq:LABL) and Columbia Banking System Inc (Nasdaq:COLB).

Small-cap stocks pushed higher Friday, with the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) rising 4.81, or 0.67%, to 721.88, which marked the highest daily close since Feb. 13. The market had a teeter-totter session, opening higher on earnings news and a firm dollar, then slumping on consumer sentiment jitters and soaring crude oil before staging the afternoon recovery.

Crude oil futures climbed to a record intraday peak Friday at $119.90 per barrel, lifted by supply concerns tied to worker strikes in Nigeria and the North Sea. The supply side concerns were complemented by news of warning shots fired on boats in the Gulf thought to be Iranian, underscoring tensions right now between the United States and Iran.

The market appeared set for a comfortable morning rise early today, but then the University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey cast a pall over buyer enthusiasm. The Michigan headline report came out at 62.6, down from 69.5 the previous month, and at the lowest April reading in 26 years. The dour consumer mood sparked a wave of selling across equity products, but the slide never really took hold and stocks were able to recover in the afternoon despite the Michigan survey and spiking crude values.

Speaking of economic data, this week’s report front was the quiet before next week’s storm. Not only will investors have to navigate a frothy sea of economic data risk —  highlighted by Friday’s employment report — but the FOMC meeting Tuesday afternoon could trigger a dramatic market response as everyone struggles to read the Federal Reserve “tea leaves” to see if the end of the easing cycle is nigh.

Back to today’s action, equities likely found some support tied to a solid performance in the U.S. dollar, which climbed about 0.6% against the euro, and was up nearly 0.3% against the yen. The fact that the greenback held onto gains versus the euro despite the jump in crude oil was impressive, as most of the time in recent . . .

Small-cap stocks began Friday’s trading session higher, but are skidding into the red after figures from the University of Michigan showed American consumer sentiment at a 26-year low. At 1:43 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 3.35, or 0.47%, at 713.72.

Among small caps, Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:PGNX) is up 30% after the Tarrytown, N.Y.-based company’s constipation drug won FDA approval. YRC Worldwide Inc. (Nasdaq:YRCW) is up about 29% after the transportation services company said early Friday that it expects second-quarter profit in-line with Wall Street expectations. Wilshire Bancorp, Inc. (Nasdaq:WIBC) is up 17% after the Los Angeles-based community bank posted first-quarter net income of $7.1 million, or $0.24 per share, compared with analysts’ expectation of earning $0.20 per share.

Among small-cap losers, shipping and logistics company Horizon Lines, Inc. (NYSE:HRZ) is down about 18% after cutting its 2008 forecast due to weakness in Puerto Rico. Acacia Research-Acacia Technologies (Nasdaq:ACTG) is down 18% after the Newport, Calif.-based company, which develops, acquires, licenses and enforces patented technologies, reported a first-quarter loss of $3.9 million, . . .

Acacia Research- Acacia Technologies (Nasdaq:ACTG), Horizon Lines, Inc. (NYSE:HRZ) and SiRF Technology Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:SIRF) are among the biggest percentage losers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $750 million.

EZCORP, Inc. (Nasdaq:EZPW), Bottomline Technologies (Nasdaq:EPAY) and Viad Corp. (NYSE:VVI)  are also among the top small-cap percentage losers.

Here are Friday's biggest percentage losers among small caps

These are the biggest percentage gainers at 10:07 ET among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million: