On the upside
Avanex (Nasdaq: AVNX) and Bookham (Nasdaq: BKHM) will merge in an all-stock deal that could save both companies up to $28 million.
Citigroup upgraded Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE: LYG).
Shares of insurers MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG), MBIA (NYSE: MBI) and Ambac Financial Group (NYSE: ABK) all soared over anticipation that the government will take on bad assets from financial institutions.
On the downside
South Financial Group (Nasdaq: TSFG) reported a wider than expected fourth quarter loss due to a hefty goodwill impairmant charge and higher loan loss provisions.
While Altera (Nasdaq: ALTR) reported higher fourth quarter earnings that topped estimates, the programmable chip maker warned that sales growth will slow due to the sluggish economy.
Quest Energy Partners (Nasdaq: QELP) suspended quarterly distributions on the company's common units.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 6 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 3 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks jumped 17 points to 473.
