Concerns of a stalled economic recovery sent the markets down to a sharply lower close with the Dow tumbling 97 points to 12,151. Nasdaq plummeted 40 points to 2732.
On the upside
A Motley Fool article reported that Southwestern Energy's (Nasdaq: SWN) margins are higher than industry peers with its trailing 12 month figure better than the five month average.
Rumors that Ocwen Financial (NYSE: OCN) will acquire Litton Loan Servicing from Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) lifted shares of the subprime mortgage loan services firm.
A Seeking Alpha article listed Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners (Nasdaq: CPRX) as an inexpensive biotechnology stock that is a prime acquisition target.
On the downside
Sina (Nasdaq: SINA) reported a loss for 2010 full year.
Pilgrim's Pride (NYSE: PPC) appointed Fabio Sandri to the position of chief financial officer.
Investors locked in profits on Hill International (NYSE: HIL), whose shares surged yesterday after announcing a $1.5 billion contract to manage a residential construction project in Iraq.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 7 to 3 on the NYSE and by 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks plunged 12 points to 808.