The markets posted heavy losses with the Dow collapsing 680 points to 8149 after the National Bureau of Economic Research confirmed that the nation was in the grips of a recession and has been for nearly a year. Nasdaq slumped 138 points to 1398.
On the upside
Shares of Rambus (NYSE: RMBS) continued climbing after a judge ruled last week that several chip makers violated patents held by the company.
On the downside
United Airlines parent UAL (Nasdaq: UAUA) will raise $200 million through the sale of common stock. Credit Suisse analyst Daniel McKenzie dropped his price target on the airliner from $17 to $13.
Sandler O'Neill analyst Richard Repetto expects a 20% drop in daily average revenue trades from online traders E-Trade (Nasdaq: ETFC) and Charles Schwab (Nasdaq: SCHW) in November.
While a federal appeals court agreed with a lower court that Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM) should have revealed that it held two Internet video patents, it ruled that the patents are unenforceable only when applied to h.264 products.
General Electric (NYSE: GE) will unveil reorganization plans for its financial unit GE Capital on Tuesday. Analysts expect the company to lower its 2009 earnings outlook as well.
Borders Group (NYSE: BGP) stock continued to fall after the bookseller reported third quarter earnings that fell far short of analyst expectations.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 7 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 6 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks plummeted 50 points to 423.
