On the upside
J.P. Morgan initiated coverage of Energy Conversion Devices (Nasdaq: ENER).
Pacer International (Nasdaq: PACR) amended its credit agreement.
Shares of Potash (NYSE: POT) rose after Bloomberg reported that Russian potash producer Uralkali increased its prices due to stronger demand.
On the downside
Discovery Laboratories (Nasdaq: DSCO) warned that the Food and Drug Administration most likely will not approve its lung medication surfaxin prompting a downgrade.
Flagstone Reinsurance (NYSE: FSR) offered $1.88 billion to acquire IPC Re (Nasdaq: IPCR), which received an unsolicited take over bid from Validus Holdings (NYSE: VR).
The Food and Drug Administration is requiring Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) to add "black box" warnings to alert consumers of possible mental health problems including depression and suicidal thoughts to their smoking cessation drugs.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 4 to 1 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks plunged 17 points to 500.
