Congressional Stalemate Continues, Markets Tumble

The stalemate over a debt reduction plan continued in Congress sending the markets tumbling to close sharply lower with the Dow plunging 96 points to 12,143. Nasdaq fell 9 points to 2756.

On the upside

Trefis set a price target of $27.03 for United Continental (NYSE: UAL).

Second quarter earnings fell for Cadence Design Systems (Nasdaq: CDNS) but revenue climbed and Bank of America Merrill Lynch lifted its price target on the semiconductor design company.

Ingram Micro (NYSE: IM) reported lower second quarter earnings but revenue climbed.

On the downside

Brazilian airliner Gol Linhas Aereas (NYSE: GOL) blamed higher fuel expenses for cutting its earnings guidance for the year.

Southwestern Energy (NYSE: SWN) reported higher second quarter earnings that topped analyst estimates but production fell at some wells.

Shares of Imax (NYSE: IMAX) continued falling posting second quarter earnings that plunged to fall far short of analyst expectations yesterday.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 2 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 9 to 7 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks slipped 2 points to 797.