Concerns that the debt summit in Europe this weekend will fail to yield concrete steps to resolving the financial crisis sent the markets tumbling to a sharply lower open with the Dow plunging 132 points to 11,511. Nasdaq dropped 27 points to 2640.
On the upside
El Paso (NYSE: EP) will be acquired by Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) in a cash and stock deal valued at approximately $21.1 billion including the assumption of debt.
Statoil ASA will pay approximately $4.4 billion in cash to acquire Brigham Exploration (Nasdaq: BEXP).
Anadys Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ANDS) agreed to be acquired by Roche for a premium of approximately $230 million in cash.
On the downside
FBR Capital and Oppenheimer downgraded El Paso Pipeline Partners (NYSE: EPB).
Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) reported higher third quarter earnings but revenue dropped to fall short of analyst expectations.
Third quarter earnings and revenue climbed to Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) but the oil services firm may have to pay billions to settle liability claims for the Deepwater Horizon explosion last year.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 3 to 1 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks plunged 10 points to 702.
