The markets closed sharply lower with the Dow plunging 140 points to 12,201 after Standard & Poor's downgraded the debt rating the United States to negative. Nasdaq dropped 29 points to 2735.
On the upside
L & L Energy (Nasdaq: LLEN) will supply Kunming Iron & Steel Group with 700,000 tons of coal.
Shares of McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) South American franchiser Arcos Dorados Holdings (NYSE: ARCO) continued climbing after making its debut on the NYSE last Thursday.
Authentidate Holding (Nasdaq: ADAT) will provide Ameri-Quipt with its Inscrybe Healthcare referral management solution.
On the downside
Shares of Cirrus Logic (Nasdaq: CRUS) continued falling after warning on Friday of lower earnings in the first and second quarters due to a production problem.
Citigroup Global Markets analyst Christian Wetherbee downgraded Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE: GNK) to a Sell rating and cut his price target on the drybulk shipper to $8 from $13.
Citi Investment Research analyst Timothy M. Arcuri downgraded Evergreen Solar (Nasdaq: ESLR) to a Sell rating and cut his price target from $3.50 to $1.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 4 to 1 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks tumbled 13 points to 821.
