Sharply higher job losses last month along with greater borrowing by consumers sparked recessionary fears to send the markets tumbling with the Dow plummeting 147 points to close at 11,894. Nasdaq lost 8 points to 2212.
On the upside
Jon Najarian of OptionMonster.com recommended InterDigital (Nasdaq: IDCC) as an attractive stock.
Ambac Financial (NYSE: ABK) sold 171 shares of common stock, 14 million private placement shares and 5 million equity units to raise $1.5 billion to protect its credit rating.
Thornburg (NYSE: TMA) restated its 2007 results to a wider loss of $10.94 per share from the previously reported $7.48 per share.
On the downside
The antitrust division of the U. S. Department of Justice searched Reddy Ice Holdings' (Nasdaq: FRZ) headquarters in Dallas prompting downgrades.
French environmental management services firm Veolia Environnement (NYSE: VE) reported higher 2007 earnings but the results fell short of estimates.
Steel producer ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT) agreed to invest $50 million in Noble International (Nasdaq: NOBL) if founder and chairman Robert Skandalaris sells his interest in the company to ArcelorMittal and steps aside as chairman.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 5 to 3 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 3 points to 660.
