Libya Stops Oil Shipments Amidst Violence, Markets Plunge
The markets tumbled to close sharply lower with the Dow plummeting 107 points to 12,105 as Libya stopped all crude oil shipments amidst escalating violence. Nasdaq plunged 33 points to 2722.
On the upside
Royale Energy (Nasdaq: ROYL) received regulatory approval to begin production at the Goddard #2 well in Colusa County, California.
Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) reversed year ago losses to post a profit for the fourth quarter.
Range Resources (NYSE: RRC) reported record production volumes in the fourth quarter.
On the downside
HiSoft Technology (Nasdaq: HSFT) lowered its full year 2010 outlook due to a bad debt provision of $3.5 billion.
Lumber Liquidators (NYSE: LL) disappointed with lower fourth quarter earnings that fell short of analyst expectations.Shares of Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) continued falling after reporting lower third quarter earnings yesterday that missed estimates.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks dropped 13 points to 799.
