The late-session snapback rally on Tuesday brought stocks back
from the depths of Monday's losses, but many observers still say
that we're not out of the woods yet.
What's stalking investors in the dark woods is a bear market.
Small-cap stocks on Monday were down 25 percent from the Russell
2000's most recent high of 869 on May 2nd, but Tuesday's buying
spree pushed the Russell 2000 back to 'just' a 20 percent decline -
the threshold for a bear market.
Still, the latest pronouncement from Federal Reserve policymakers
brought the buyers out of the woods and off the sidelines, given
the availability of many bargain prices for stocks.
On Tuesday, the two best-known indicators of small-cap stock
performance both rebounded sharply from Monday's historical drops,
and had a better day than the large-cap indexes. The Russell 2000
Index was up 6.98 percent, after suffering its worst one-day
decline. The Standard & Poor's Small Cap 600 finished the day
6.26 percent higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average clawed back nearly 4 percent of
Monday's losses; the Nasdaq Stock Market regained 5.3 percent; and
the S&P 500 posted a 4.74 percent improvement.
Tuesday's Top Performing Small Cap Stocks (Data provided by
Google Finance)
The Phoenix Cos. (
PNX
)
: The life insurance and annuity vendor's stock bounced back from a
21.8 percent sell-off on Monday. Shares are around where they were
trading before last week's second-quarter earnings announcement,
which showed improvements over the first quarter but significantly
lower results than the year before. Raymond James analysts also
raised their rating to market perform from underperform.
Anacor Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ANAC)
: The developer of drugs to treat "neglected diseases" in humans
and other maladies that strike pets will report second-quarter
results on Thursday.
FairPoint Communication (Nasdaq: FRP)
: The provider of communication services to customers in 18 states
cut its second-quarter loss to half of what it was a year ago, but
revenue faded as it continued to lose more traditional landline
customers. The company emerged from bankruptcy in January.
Northern Oil & Gas (Amex: NOG)
: The oil and gas exploration company reported its 14th consecutive
quarter of increased production. Earnings more than tripled on
hedging gains and rising oil and gas prices.
MAKO Surgical (Nasdaq: MAKO)
: The maker of medical devices, including robotic surgical
instruments used in knee and hip replacements, posted an 81 percent
second-quarter improvement in revenue, but a larger net loss than
the year before. Still, shares are up 90 percent year-to-date.
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