On the upside
The Food and Drug Administration approved CombinatoRx's (Nasdaq: CRXX) extended release opioid pain treatment Exalgo.
Terra Industries (NYSE: TRA), which has rejected past take-over offers from CF Industries (NYSE: CF), received another $4.74 billion bid from CF.
Fourth quarter earnings slipped for Questcor Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: QCOR) but the results best expectations by a wide margin.
On the downside
Staples (Nasdaq: SPLS) blamed restructuring and integration costs for lower fourth quarter earnings that missed expectations and forecast full year results below estimates.
NutriSystem (Nasdaq: NTRI) reversed year ago losses due to cost cutting measures but the weight loss company forecast first quarter results well below analyst expectations.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch slashed its price target for Prudential (NYSE: PUK) citing the insurer's $35 billion cash and stock acquisition of American Insurance Group's (NYSE: AIG) Asia operations.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 7 to 5 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 2 points to 645.
