On the upside
The U. S. Supreme Court refused to review lawsuits filed by military personnel and Vietnamese nationals against Dow Chemical (NYSE: DOW) and other chemical companies over the use of Agent Orange in the Vietnam War.
Bargain hunters lifted shares of Synta Pharmaceucticals (Nasdaq: SNTA). The stock price collapsed last week after the company suspended a late stage clinical trial of its cancer treatment elesclomol due to safety concerns
On the downside
KKR Financial Holdings (NYSE: KFN) swung to a fourth quarter loss, cancelled its dividend for the fourth quarter and will most likely suspend dividends for the rest of 2009.
Louisiana-Pacific (NYSE: LPX) blamed the slumping housing market for widening fourth quarter losses.
Shares of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and Citigroup (NYSE: C) tumbled over continued bank nationalization concerns.
Moody's Investors Service may lower its ratings for Sallie Mae (NYSE: SLM) after President Obama proposed using the Department of Education to administer all student loans.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 9 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks plunged 15 points to 374.
