Closing Bell Report

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Existing home sales tumbled by more than double the expected amount to send the markets down to a sharply lower close with the Dow skidding 283 points to 11,349.  Nasdaq plummeted 46 points to 2280.

On the upside

Although first quarter earnings fell for Cirrus Logic (Nasdaq: CRUS), the results beat expectations prompting an upgrade.

Sanmina-SCI (Nasdaq: SANM) swung to a profit for the third quarter after selling its personal computing business prompting an upgrade.

Staffing firm Robert Half International (NYSE: RHI) reported higher second quarter earnings that surpassed estimates.

On the downside

Varian (Nasdaq: VARI) disappointed with lower third quarter earnings due to delayed shipments and fewer large system installations.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin criticized the pricing policy of Mechel OAO (NYSE: MTL) sending shares of the mining and steel company plummeting.

Shares of Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) and Northwest Airlines (NYSE: NWA) tumbled after a federal judge set a November 5 trial date for a lawsuit seeking to block Delta's acquisition of Northwest.


In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 4 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq.  The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks plummeted 17 points to 702.

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This page contains a single entry by published on July 24, 2008 1:38 PM.

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