Disappointingly weak September retail sales sent the markets tumbling during the midday with the Dow plunging 199 points to 9248. Nasdaq dropped 15 points to 1739.
On the upside
Bloomberg News reported that Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) will most likely acquire Wachovia's (NYSE: WB) mid-Atlantic and Southeastern branches which account for approximately 75% of the company leaving Citigroup (NYSE: C) with the bank's Northeastern branches.
Broadcom (Nasdaq: BRCM) filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) claiming patent misuse and that Qualcomm's patents are unenforceable.
Essar Services requested that PeopleSupport (Nasdaq: PSPT) delay its $250 million acquisition of the business processing outsourcing company until no later than October 31.
On the downside
Alcoa (NYSE: AA) disappointed with lower third quarter earnings as global demand dropped prompting a downgrade.
TEL Offshore Trust (Nasdaq: TELOZ) announced that Hurricane Ike destroyed oil platforms and wells on Eugene Island 339.
Robert W. Baird analyst David Loeb cut his price target for Diamondrock Hospitality (NYSE: DRH) saying that revenue will drop in 2009.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 4 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks slipped a fraction to 559.
