On the upside
Bernanke's comments lifted banking stocks which rallied for a 5th straight day. Shares of Citigroup (NYSE: C) doubled in value from its recent all-time low while Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) joined the rally.American International Group (NYSE: AIG) disclosed that it had used more than $90 billion in federal bailout funds to pay other banks, both domestic and foreign. Meanwhile, critics complained about bonuses being paid to executives, but AIG stated that it had contracted to do so in early 2008 before its financial troubles began.
AgFeed Industries (Nasdaq: FEED) posted record revenues and earnings for 2008. The company is China's largest commercial hog producer.
On the downside
Ericson (Nasdaq: ERIC) signed a $2 billion service contract with Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) which was downgraded by an analyst.
Shares of General Motors (NYSE: GM) lagged the rest of the market as auto sales remained stagnant through the current month.
Shares of Broadcom (Nasdaq: BRCM) fell after a Souther California court reportedly dismissed a lawsuit to challenge patents held by rival Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM).
In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by more than 2 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks added 2 points to 395.
