Mid-Day Report
The markets surged during the midday with the Dow jumping 442 points to 11,461 as the federal government outlined plans to address the financial crisis. Nasdaq leaped 78 points to 2277.
On the upside
Shares of troubled insurer American International Group (NYSE: AIG) soared as the government announced plans to rescue banks with bad debt while the SEC banned the short selling of nearly 800 financial stocks.
An SEC ban on the short selling of nearly 800 financial stocks lifted shares of Wachovia (NYSE: WB), Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER), and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) .
On the downside
Palm (Nasdaq: PALM) widened first quarter losses despite higher revenue and the smartphone maker warned that second quarter revenue drop.
Friedman Billings Ramsey downgraded OfficeMax (NYSE: OMX) after the office supplies retailer disclosed ties to bankrupt Lehman Brothers.
Moody's Investors Service placed MBIA's (NYSE: MBI) insurance unit under review.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 8 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 4 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks surged 25 points to 748.
