The collapse of the Dutch government sent the markets plummeting to a sharply lower close with the Dow plunging 102 points to 12,927. Nasdaq tumbled 30 points to 2970.
On the upside
Hedge fund Jana Partners acquired a 12.5% stake in Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS).
Ramesh Gulati of Gulati Asset Management highlighted specialty MRI equipment firm Fonar (Nasdaq: FONR) as one of a number of health care companies that will benefit from aging baby boomers.
Central European Distribution (Nasdaq: CEDC) and Russian Standard formed a strategic alliance.
On the downside
Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWX) did not renew its network connections contract with Otelco (Nasdaq: OTT).
Kellogg (NYSE: K) blamed weakness in Europe for lowering its full year outlook.
Hyperdynamics (NYSE: HDY) will provide a first quarter business update on Thursday, May 10, 2012.
In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of more than 5 to 2 on the NYSE and by nearly 7 to 2 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks dropped 12 points to 791.
