Recession Fears Sink Markets

The markets extended is losses during the midday over fears of a deep and prolonged recession. The Dow plummeted 274 points to 7577 while Nasdaq skidded 59 points to 1475.

On the upside

Teva Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: TEVA) swung to a fourth quarter loss due to significant charges related to its acquisition of Barr Pharmaceuticals but the results topped analyst estimates and the generic drugmaker increased its fourth quarter dividend.

OSI Systems (Nasdaq: OSIS) announced last week that it secured an $11 million contract for its Rapiscan Eagle M4500 cargo and vehicle inspection system.

Shares of StemCell (Nasdaq: STEM) surged over hopes that President Obama will lift the ban on stem cell research.

On the downside

Coldwater Creek (Nasdaq: CWTR) warned that fourth quarter losses will be larger than analyst expectations.

Credit card delinquencies climbed in January for Capital One Financial (NYSE: COF).

Aegon NV (NYSE: AEGN) posted a much larger than expected fourth quarter loss as write-downs increased.

In the broad market, declining issues overwhelmed advancers by a margin of nearly 10 to 1 on the NYSE and by 5 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks plunged 17 points to 432.