The markets opened sharply lower with the Dow sinking 265 points to 11,530 over expectations that the congressional debt committee will fail to reduce the nation's debt by at least $1.2 trillion. Nasdaq plunged 58 points to 2513.
On the upside
Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) will pay a premium of approximately $11 billion in cash to acquire Pharmasset (Nasdaq: VRUS).
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services will now cover the costs associated with administering Dendreon's (Nasdaq: DNDN) Provenge.
Cooper Industries (NYSE: CBE) will replace Janus Capital Group (NYSE: JNS) in the S&P 500 index after market close on Tuesday, November 22.
On the downside
Profit taking continued to weigh down shares of Pacific Ethanol (Nasdaq: PEIX). The stock price climbed early last week after the company retired debt.
The 180 day lock-up period for LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD) expires today with approximately 8 million shares expected to be sold in a secondary offering.
Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE: LYG) named director David Roberts as interim chief executive while chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio remained on medical leave.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 10 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 6 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks plunged 15 points to 704.
