Tag - Patr

Small-cap stocks opened lower, and at 10:01 a.m. ET the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 9.43, or 1.31%, at 708.57. Small-cap issues paced the early slump in U.S. equities, as the Dow was only off about 0.6%.

The 10:00 a.m. ET release of Existing Home Sales data was on target with analyst forecasts and had very little immediate impact on the market.

The home sales was the first economic release so far this week, and given a dearth of economic data, the market has been focused on the never-ending run of quarterly earnings releases. From afar, the numbers haven’t really looked that great, but soft returns were expected, and so far the market is higher into the initial earnings push.

The latest batch of big-name earnings releases into today’s action served up a mixed bag, with Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN) missing the forecast, while DuPont (NYSE:DD) beat the estimate. Texas Instruments was under selling pressure this morning, last down 4% after the chipmaker said the soft economy and sluggish demand for cell phones would hurt second-quarter results. DuPont’s strong earnings were fueled by agriculture products and overseas demand.

Commodity markets appear to be on a modest roll today, which could provide a boost to commodity-linked stocks if the trend remains in play throughout the session. Crude oil made new highs overnight and remains on a bid, lifted by civil unrest in producing state Nigeria, a refinery strike in Scotland and a Japanese tanker hit by rocket fire off the coast of Yemen. Gold and grains are also expected to hit the ground running in U.S. trading action this morning.

Financial shares in Europe were hit hard overnight, with the Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays down in the 4% range as those banks navigate through . . .

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) has declined more than the other major U.S. indices on news of an imminent downgrade of bond insurers.

At 11:46 a.m. ET, the small-cap index was down 8.11 points, or 1.16%, to 688.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) had lost 70.09 points, or 0.57%, to 12,214.21.

Wall Street is firmly in negative territory following news that rating agencies Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch will move to downgrade major bond insurers MBIA Inc. (NYSE: MBI) and Ambac Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: ABK).

Bond insurers guarantee bonds purchased by investors by agreeing to pay interest and principle if the issuer doesn’t do so. The insurers’ triple-A rating is a seal of approval for investors looking for safe investments.

A downgrade of MBIA and Ambac will create problems for banks that hold bonds they insure, possibly leading to billions in writedowns.

Among small-cap stocks, shares of trucking and transportation companies are among the worst performers.

Patriot Transportation Holding, Inc. (Nasdaq: PATR), whose trucks operate in the Southeastern United States, has shifted into lower gear.

Similarly, shares of general commodities transporter USA Truck, Inc. (Nasdaq: USAK) have also slowed down. Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Covenant Transportation Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: CVTI) is also tapping on the breaks.

Elsewhere, portable storage solutions provider Mobile Mini, Inc. (Nasdaq: MINI) has agreed to buy Mobile Services Group for about $701.5 million.