Markets Drop As Madoff Victim List Grows

The markets extended its losses during the midday as the list of victims from Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme grew. The Dow dropped 82 points to 8548 while the tech-heavy Nasdaq plunged 31 points to 1510.

On the upside

The board of Liberty Media (Nasdaq: LCAPA) approved plans to spin off its Liberty Entertainment (Nasdaq: LMDIA) business.

A Barron's article said that hospitality and entertainment company Gaylord Entertainment (NYSE: GET) stock is undervalued and should be worth $50 prompting an upgrade.

Teck Cominco (NYSE: TCK) cited a drop in metal demand and low zinc prices for temporarily closing its Pend Oreille Operations in Washington.

On the downside

Oppenheimer downgraded OceanFreight (Nasdaq: OCNF) after the dry bulk shipper announced a suspension of all future dividend payments and cut the charter rates for its M/V Augusta carrier.

Shopping center owner Developers Diversified Realty (NYSE: DDR) will not be able to sell thirteen assets by mid-December as originally announced.

Merrill Lynch analyst Guy Moszkowski downgraded JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) and expects the company to post a fourth quarter loss.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks tumbled 11 points to 457.