French Banks Downgraded, Markets Open Lower
The markets opened lower with the Dow falling 57 points to 11,048 after Moody's downgraded the credit ratings of French banks Societe Generale and Credit Agricole. Nasdaq added 3 points to 2535.
On the upside
Oaktree Capital Management offered approximately $670 million to acquire Jakks Pacific (Nasdaq: JAKK).
Hertz (NYSE: HTZ) became the sole suitor for Dollar Thrifty (NYSE: DTG) after Avis Budget (Nasdaq: CAR) abandoned its bid for Dollar Thrifty.
The Wall Street Journal reported that federal investigators will blame the Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 people on not only BP (NYSE: BP), but its contractors as well.
On the downside
Jefferies downgraded JA Solar Holdings (Nasdaq: JASO) to an Underperform rating citing solar subsidy cuts in Italy and Germany.
Shares of Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) fell after The Wall Street Journal reported that BP (NYSE: BP) contractors may share the blame for the Deepwater Horizon explosion.
ConAgra (NYSE: CAG) will drop its $5.2 billion acquisition offer for Ralcorp (NYSE: RAH) if Ralcorp refuses to engage in merger discussions.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 9 to 7 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 4 points to 686.
