Fourth Quarter Economic Expansion Falls Short, Markets Tumble
The markets tumbled during the midday with the Dow plunging 138 points to 11,851 as the nation's economy expanded by a less than expected 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Nasdaq plummeted 59 points to 2695.
On the upside
Shares of Savvis (Nasdaq: SVVS) climbed after rival data center operator Terremark (Nasdaq: TMRK) agreed to be acquired by Verizon (NYSE: VZ).
Shares of mobile marketing and advertising technology provider Velti (Nasdaq: VELT) surged on its first trading day.
BPZ Resources (NYSE: BPZ) announced the closing of a $40 million loan from Credit Suisse.
On the downside
Monster Worldwide (NYSE: MWW) reversed year ago losses but the results fell short of estimates.
Although fourth quarter earnings for Thoratec (Nasdaq: THOR) rose, the results missed expectations and the medical device maker forecast 2011 results below analyst estimates.Infinera (Nasdaq: INFN) narrowed fourth quarter losses but revenue fell short prompting a downgrade.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 4 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 6 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks plunged 16 points 779.
