The markets opened lower with the Dow falling 57 points to 11,048 after Moody's downgraded the credit ratings of French banks Societe Generale and Credit Agricole. Nasdaq added 3 points to 2535.
On the upside
Oaktree Capital Management offered approximately $670 million to acquire Jakks Pacific (Nasdaq: JAKK).
Hertz (NYSE: HTZ) became the sole suitor for Dollar Thrifty (NYSE: DTG) after Avis Budget (Nasdaq: CAR) abandoned its bid for Dollar Thrifty.
The Wall Street Journal reported that federal investigators will blame the Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 people on not only BP (NYSE: BP), but its contractors as well.
On the downside
Jefferies downgraded JA Solar Holdings (Nasdaq: JASO) to an Underperform rating citing solar subsidy cuts in Italy and Germany.
Shares of Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) fell after The Wall Street Journal reported that BP (NYSE: BP) contractors may share the blame for the Deepwater Horizon explosion.
ConAgra (NYSE: CAG) will drop its $5.2 billion acquisition offer for Ralcorp (NYSE: RAH) if Ralcorp refuses to engage in merger discussions.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 9 to 7 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 4 points to 686.
