JPMorgan's purchase of Bear Stearns at a fraction of its closing price on Friday sparked a collapse of the financial services sector sending the markets tumbling during the midday with the Dow dropping 80 ponts to 11,871. Nasdaq plunged 41 points to 2172.
On the upside
BladeLogic (Nasdaq: BLOG), which went public less than a year ago, agreed to be acquired by BMC Software (NYSE: BMC) for approximately $800 million.
Patients using QLT's (Nasdaq: QLTI) acne treatment Aczone will no longer need to be monitored by blood conditions such as anemia.
FTN Midwest upgraded Callaway Golf (NYSE: ELY).
On the downside
Shares of brokerage firm MF Global (NYSE: MF) lost more than half their value as the entire financial sector reeled from JPMorgan's (NYSE: JPM) purchase of Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC) at the bargain price of $2 per share.
Moody's Investors Service downgraded its ratings outlook for Lehman Bros. (NYSE: LEH) while Southeast Asian bank DBS Group advised its traders not to conduct business with Lehman Bros.
Tempur-Pedic (NYSE: TPX) blamed the economic downturn for withdrawing its earnings guidance for the year and warning that first quarter results will disappoint.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 7 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks plunged 15 points to 648.
