A drop in Asian markets weighed domestic markets down to a lower open with the Dow plummeting 238 points to 9900. Nasdaq plunged 64 points to 2156.
On the upside
Cowlitz Bancorp (Nasdaq: CWLZ) met with the Nasdaq Stock Market Hearing Panel to present its plan to regain compliance.
Shares of BP (NYSE: BP) rose after director of the National Audubon Society's Louisiana Coastal Initiative Paul Kemp said that the Gulf wetlands are weathering the oil spill pretty well.
On the downside
Micron Technology (Nasdaq: MU) swung to a third quarter profit but the company warned of flat growth for the fourth quarter.
Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) widened fourth quarter losses.
In a bid to gain favor with the Chinese government, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) announced changes to its Chinese site. Shares of Baidu (Nasdaq: BIDU) fell on the news.
Aaron's (NYSE: AAN) cut its outlook for the second quarter as well as the full year and announced the closure of its furniture business.
In the broad market, declinig issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 8 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 9 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks tumbled 17 points to 624.
