Investors embraced comments by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that indicated that the Fed may consider additional measures to support the economy. The markets closed sharply higher with the Dow jumping 160 points to 13,241. Nasdaq soared 54 points to 3122.
On the upside
A Seeking Alpha contributor identified SIGA Technologies (Nasdaq: SIGA) as a $3 stock with much upside potential.
Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) announced that NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart would appear at the grand reopening ceremony of 13 remodeled stores in Houston.
Sidoti initiated coverage of Parker Drilling (Nasdaq: PKD) with a Buy rating.
On the downside
The Wall Street Journal reported that Germany will cut solar subsidies sending shares of Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL) lower.
Concerns about continuing losses at Vipshop (NYSE: VIPS) weighed down shares of the Chinese online retailer on its second day of trading.
AudioCodes (Nasdaq: AUDC) warned that 2012 revenue will fall short of estimates.
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of more than 3 to 1 on both the NYSE and on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks leaped 16 points to 846.
