The market had a great day today and volume was better than

The market moved sideways today, but it finished above the

 Methode Electricians Inc (Nasdaq:MEI), Spreadthrum Communications Inc (Nasdaq:SPRD), Celldex Therapeudics Inc (Nasdaq:CLDX) and Dragonwave Inc (Nasdaq:DRWI) are among the biggest percentage losers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Comtech Telecommunications (Nasdaq:CMTL), Nash Finch Co (Nasdaq:NAFC), Airmedia Group Inc (Nasdaq:Inc), Dynamex Inc (Nasdaq:DDMX) and Darling International Inc (Nasdaq:DAR).

As of press time, 4:00 P.M. Eastern, stocks on the broader indices were up. The Dow was down 2.49 points to 8,762, the Nasdaq up 17.73 points to 1,860.13, and the S&P 500 was up 3.22 points to 942.42.

The Russell 2000, the index tracking the 2,000 largest small cap stocks, was up 4.02 points, or 0.77%, to 528.57.

Leading today's small cap gainers was Sequenom (Nasdaq:SQNM) up 45.97%. Sequenom provides genetic analysis products for biomedical research, molecular medicine, and non-invasive prenatal testing. As I've been saying for the past couple weeks, the sector rotation to defensive stocks like biotech and healthcare has started.

Other small caps showing leadership today include Spreadtrum Communications (Nasdaq:SPRD) up 23.76%; Satyam Computer Services (NYSE:SAY) up 34.93% on surprising the market with profits from the December quarter; Movado Group (NYSE:MOV) up 25.8%; and American Axle & Manufacturing (NYSE:AXL) up 22.45% after having broken through it's 200 day moving average for the second time since over a year ago and despite reporting that it will encounter production shutdowns due to the bankruptcy proceedings of General Motors (OTC:GMGMQ.PK) and Chrysler.

Showing the wrong kind of leadership in today's session-that is, the biggest decliner-was youth fashion creator Quiksilver (NYSE:ZQK) shedding 20.17% off it's opening price to be at $2.88 at press time. Shares dropped precipitously after it was announced that Quiksilver's profit was a penny shy of analysts' estimates.

Other stocks with investors seeing red today include LCA-Vision (Nasdaq:LCAV), provider of LasikPlus, down 14.11%; famed golf equipment maker Callaway Golf (NYSE:ELY) down 15.8% on news of it's dividend cut from 7 cents per share to just one cent per share; CBL & Associates Properties (NYSE:CBL) down 12.8% after releasing its full year outlook below consensus expectations and announcing an offering of 50 million shares of common stock.

*****Bravo. The government's handling of the financial crisis and recovery should be recognized as a masterful performance. At least, so long as you don't look too deeply into the numbers…

Bernanke and Co. have managed to restore confidence to the point that economist Paul Krugman has joined the ranks of those who think we are only a couple months away from actual GDP growth.

And they've accomplished this remarkable feat by stringing investors along with one carrot after another…

*****The first carrot was bailouts and stimulus packages. There was a time when stimulus spending was going to save or create 3.5 million jobs. Now, states are wondering where the stimulus money is. And the president is now promising 600,000 jobs will be created by stimulus spending.

But layoffs have slowed considerably according to the most recent non-farm payroll report. And Americans, feeling more secure in their jobs, may not notice that stimulus jobs won't be there, even if they need them.

*****The Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP) was supposed to remove toxic assets from bank balance sheets. Never mind that the banks probably never had any intention of selling at fire-sale prices and investors weren't thrilled with paying unreasonable prices, no matter how much of the transaction would be funded by the Treasury.

Geithner's "stress tests" resulted in banks raising their capital bases. That has helped remove the incentive to dump those toxic assets. 

And as for the $74 billion banks have raised so far, do not misunderstand all the talk of "green shoots". These green shoots were not economic recovery per se. Rather, the green shoots were the banks stock prices shooting higher after accounting rule changes allowed them to show a profit where there was none.

In other words, the economic recovery is something akin to an illusion -- those inflated stock prices have allowed the banks to raise enough capital to appear healthy and last a little while longer…

*****Now that investors have breathed a sigh of relief that the problems with the auto industry are being resolved, the Chrysler sale to Fiat has been put on hold. Funny, I would swear a couple weeks ago, Chrysler would go bankrupt and millions would lose their job if Fiat didn't buy Chrysler right away.

*****And then there's TARP - the $700 billion boondoggle. Some banks have been asking to repay the money for months. But ever-sensitive to the all-important timing element of a good comedy, the Treasury has been unwilling to accept payment.

After all, why spoil the party by letting all the good news out at once? Why not wait until the rally is looking weak to release the news that, hey, maybe we'll accept TARP repayments after all? And maybe those payments will be more than anyone expects?

But let's make sure we string the announcement out as long as possible and let the threat of good news keep the bears at bay…

*****Of course, you can only fool all of the people for a while. Eventually, without a real pickup in economic activity, the millions of Americans who are barely keeping their head above water will sink. And then all the issues the "stress tests" glossed over (higher unemployment, rising foreclosure rate, etc.) will cripple the banks once again.

As economist Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University recently told Bloomberg: "There's a chance that it might work...If it does, then they'll look like the brilliant general. But all these efforts also bank on the economy recovering and housing prices not falling too much further. Those are not safe assumptions."

P.S. I normally don't like to be the guy who says "I told you so", but for today I will. Back when the PPIP was first floated by the Treasury my diligent research in my Top Stock Insights advisory service spotted three stocks that would profit big time if the PPIP went through and profit modestly even if it did not. We did it. In a matter of weeks - not months or years - we profited on Legg Mason (NYSE:LM) for 8.16%, BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) for 9.1%, and AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) for 12.77%. Top Stock Insights readers booked these gains DESPITE the collapse of Geithner's PPIP plan. To find out how you can see steady and consistent gains no matter what happens, check out Top Stock Insights at http://www.topstockinsights.com/.

Small-cap stocks pushed lower, pulled down by losses in the tech sector and profit-taking from traders who caught the recovery rally off the lows. Today’s action represented a relatively calm finish to a frantic, volatile week that saw equities recover from the doorstep of desperation. For Friday, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) closed down 3.54, or 0.51%, at 693.08.

Despite the modest pullback today, small caps closed out the week with a gain of 18.13, or 2.68%, which is no small accomplishment considering the market made four-month lows on Tuesday when panic about the solvency of government-sponsored mortgage lenders hit a crescendo. At one point earlier this week, there seemed to be a swelling sense of doom about potential systemic risk within the entirety of the financial system, so the dramatic bounce off the lows swept in an important calming influence into things. What’s more, the nice rally off those lows turned the chart picture from a bear market path into a potential bullish reversal, which is an encouraging signal.

As for today’s action, financial stocks continued to seduce investors back into the fold, with the financial SPDR rising 3.5% despite the pullback in other sectors. Clearly, tech stocks were out of favor with stock market traders today, as soft earnings from key players such as Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) and Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) overwhelmed bright spots such as IBM Inc. (NYSE:IBM). For the day, GOOG was down 9.7% and MSFT lost 6%.

Crude oil prices actually closed out Friday in negative territory after spending most of the session in the green, which kept a lid on buying enthusiasm in small caps throughout much of the day. Crude oil prices collapsed some 15% off last week’s record highs, which should bring some relief at the gas pump for consumers if prices will only stay contained looking forward. Although a late wave of selling pulled crude oil lower on the day, there was some reluctance to press . . .

Banner Corp (Nasdaq:BANR), West Bancorp Inc (Nasdaq:WTBA) and Spreadtrum Communications Inc (Nasdaq:SPRD) are among the new 52-week lows in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: Pharmaxis Ltd (Nasdaq:PXSL), Myers Industries Inc (Nasdaq:MYE), First National Bancshares Inc (SC) (Nasdaq:FNSC), AMERICAN RIVER Bankshares (Nasdaq:AMRB), Winnebago Industries Inc (Nasdaq:WGO) and Frontier Financial Corp (Nasdaq:FTBK).

Here are the new 52-week lows among small caps:

Small-cap stocks pushed lower again on Monday, pressured by sinking financial shares as yet another big name financial firm unveiled a capital raising effort. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) closed down 5.11, or 0.69%, at 735.26. Small caps were quite a bit weaker than large-cap stocks, narrowing the wide spreads that developed during last week’s volatile action.

For the last couple of weeks, Lehman Bros. (NYSE:LEH) has been the poster child for credit crunch concerns, and after days of speculation the firm finally announced plans to raise $6 billion in capital to shore up balance sheets. The Lehman news today sparked another bout of selling in the stock, which lost about 11% on the day. In addition, other large financial firms were pulled into the undertow, with JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) down 7% and Merrill Lynch (NYSE:MER) off 4%. The credit concerns are not solely a large-cap issue. In fact, during most of the credit crisis, small caps have tended to suffer relative to large-caps on a perception that the large banks and other financial firms have easier access to credit lines.

Early today, small caps gathered some relief bids from a pullback in crude oil prices, which slipped some $4 dollars a barrel back below $135. Still, national pump prices popped above $4 dollars a gallon over the weekend, and it will take additional downside action in crude to spark further hope about consumer spending into the summer driving season. There also was a brief morning bid in stocks when the April pending home sales report came in up 6.3%, well above the forecast for a dip of 0.3%, but the data is for April numbers and had very little staying power with stocks.
 
Broad market sectors under selling pressure today were dominated by the financial theme. The biggest losers included thrifts and mortgage financial firms, diverse financial services shares, investment banking, regional banks and diversified banks. On the upside, aluminum, airlines, coal, oil and gas drillers were the top-performing stocks.

Small caps of note today included Rimage Corp. (Nasdaq:RIMG), which tumbled 21% as the firm lowered guidance for the second quarter. Maiden Holdings Ltd. (Nasdaq:MHLD) slipped 10% on heavy turnover following earnings news from Friday. Spreadtrum Communications (Nasdaq:SPRD) was off nearly 17% on an . . .

Rimage Corp (Nasdaq:RIMG), AEP Industries Inc (Nasdaq:AEPI) and Spreadtrum Communications Inc (Nasdaq:SPRD) are among the biggest percentage losers in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

TASER International Inc (Nasdaq:TASR), Astro-Med Inc (Nasdaq:ALOT) and PAM Transportation Services Inc (Nasdaq:PTSI) are also among the biggest percentage losers.

Pier 1 Imports Inc (Nasdaq:PIR), Southern Community Financial Corp (Nasdaq:SCMF) and UFP Technologies Inc (Nasdaq:UFPT) were additionally included among the results.

Here are the biggest percentage losers among small caps:

Spreadtrum Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: SPRD)
Shanghai, China
http://www.spreadtrum.com
 
52-week low / high: $9.30 /$17
Shares Outstanding: 41.44 million
Market Capitalization: $441 million

Some market pundits are warning that China’s red-hot stock market bubble may be beginning to show signs of aging, but with China’s economy estimated to grow at a hefty clip in the long term, pockets of value and growth can still be found in the country’s market. Spreadtrum Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: SPRD) is proof of that.

The fabless semiconductor company manufactures chipsets, or “baseband processors,” for cell phones to deliver audio and video to cell phones more efficiently. Spreadtrum offers various multimedia capabilities for the wireless communications market such as MP3 digital audio playback, Motion JPEG and H.264 digital video playback.

While the company also offers turnkey solutions, the real growth engine of this company lies within its baseband semiconductor business.

Revenue from baseband semiconductors rocketed 118% in the third quarter, while revenue from turnkey solutions declined 60% in the third quarter. Revenue from baseband semiconductors comprised 89% of revenue for the third quarter, up from 59% of revenue in the third quarter of 2006. Revenue from turnkey solutions, however, accounted for 11% of revenue, down from 41% of revenue in the third quarter of 2006.

The small cap is continuing to gain share in the Chinese mobile handset market, as exhibited by the fact that it experienced two consecutive quarters of 37% growth in shipments of its baseband semiconductors. What’s more, for the nine-month period ended Sept. 30, shipments of Spreadtrum’s baseband semiconductors already exceeded shipments for all of last year.

Net income for the third quarter was $6.06 million, or $0.13 per share, compared with $3.7 million, or $0.11 per share, for the third quarter of 2006. That’s 64% growth on a net income basis and 18% growth on a per share basis.

Revenue in the third quarter increased 44% to $38.6 million, from $26.7 million earned in the third quarter of 2006.   

This year the company is ramping up and is setting the stage for future growth. Spreadtrum has three new chips in the pipeline, which should position the rising star well for 2008. The offerings include Spreadtrum’s SC6600H chip, which enables CD sound quality playback on music mobile phones, while its SC6600R is a high-performance, high-function baseband chip targeting the mainstream mobile phone market.

Additionally, the company’s SC6600H chip, designed to enable The SV6111, which the company believes is the first decoder chip to support the Chinese AVS standard, passed China Netcom's commercial trial tests in October.

Trading at a forward P/E of 16.52 and a PEG of 0.5, the fundamentals and the growth story are present. However, the company is a recent IPO and its stock performance has been erratic — recently sinking to a bottom first reached in August. Shrewd investors ought to let the stock moderate a bit and find support, before riding this rising star. 

Note: Spreadtrum Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: SPRD) is on the “Watch List” of Rising Star Stocks, a subscription investment newsletter from Business Financial Publishing, which also publishes SmallCapInvestor.com. As a Watch List company, Spreadtrum displays many characteristics found in successful stock winners, and is being closely monitored for possible inclusion in the Rising Star Stocks portfolio at a later date.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) futures have moved higher and the small-cap index is likely to rise as investors await the Fed’s decision.

All eyes are on the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is meeting today to decide on monetary policy. A decision will be announced at 2:15 p.m. ET. Many observers are betting that falling house prices and restricted lending from banks will prompt the central bank to lower the federal funds rate to give the economy a lift.

The federal funds rate, the rate at which commercial banks make overnight loans to each other, currently stands at 4.5%. Financial markets have recently taken the view that a 0.25% cut is baked in, with more courageous voices anticipating a decline of 0.5%.

Here are the biggest percentage gainers and losers in pre-market trading among companies with a market cap between $100 million and $750 million:

Biggest percentage gainers:

• Genesis Microchip Inc. (GNSS), up 57% on news it is being purchased by STMicroelectronics NV (STM) for about $336 million.
• Allos Therapeutics, Inc. (ALTH), up 13% on news it will present a corporate overview at a conference in San Francisco.
• Smith Micro Software, Inc. (SMSI), up 13% on news it will buy part of Pctel Inc. (PCTI) for $59.7 million.

Biggest percentage losers:

• Spreadtrum Communications, Inc. (SPRD), down 7%.
• Orasure Technologies, Inc. (OSUR) down 3%.
• Cardica Inc. (CRDC) down 3% on news of a partial exercise of the over-allotment option granted to the underwriters of its public offering.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) and the other major U.S. indices are in positive territory this morning as investors pin their hopes on the retail sector.

At 10:26 a.m. ET, the small-cap index had added 8.25 points, or 1.11%, to 748.55. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) had advanced 88.36 points, or 0.69%, to 12,887.40.

The stock exchange will close at 1 p.m. ET today due to the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

All eyes are on retailers today, the so-called “Black Friday”, when millions of Americans do their holiday shopping and when retailers become profitable for the year.

Black Friday is traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year, when stores open earlier than usual and handle an increased number of holiday shoppers looking for bargains. Retailers nationwide are introducing discounts and other strategies to get Americans to spend despite high energy prices and lower house prices that have combined to negatively affect consumer spending.

The bulls are hoping to see strong retail sales.

In other economic news, former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said today that U.S. house prices have not yet hit their low point. Speaking to an audience in the Norwegian capital of Oslo, Greenspan pointed to the large number unsold homes and said that the decline in house prices in unprecedented.

What’s not to like about a company that makes parts for one of the fastest-growing consumer products in one of the world’s fastest growing markets?

Spreadtrum Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: SPRD), a Shanghai company that makes chips for the mobile handset market, is in that enviable position today, amid a surge in demand for both basic low-priced and fancy high-end cell phones.

Last month, IDC reported that worldwide handset shipments in the third quarter of 2007 totaled 289.1 million units, up 9% from the previous quarter and up 13.8% from the year-earlier quarter.

While that robust growth is good news for a long list of mobile chip makers that includes U.S.-based Texas Instruments Incorporated (NYSE: TXN), it is exceptionally good news for Spreadtrum, whose home base of China is not only the world’s largest cell phone market, but, thanks to its low-cost labor, is also the source of more and more of the world’s cell phone production.

Not only does Spreadtrum have the geographic advantage of being close to so many of the companies that buy its chips and the consumers who buy the phones that contain them, but the small cap also pays a lot less for labor than its U.S.-based rivals, meaning it can more easily translate revenues into net income.

When it reported third-quarter results in October, Spectrum showed that all those advantages added up to a very fast growth rate. The company said third-quarter revenues surged 44% to $38.6 million, while net income rose to $6.1 million or $0.13 per share, compared with $3.7 million or $0.11 in the year-ago quarter.

Judging from the growth shown in its core telecom chip product, it appears Spreadtrum’s overall growth could accelerate going forward. The company said that its telecom chip revenues surged 59% in the third quarter, a rise that was offset by a decline in its turnkey solutions division, a business that bundles wireless chips with other cell phone components. Spreadtrum is currently in the process of phasing out that lower-margin, turnkey business.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) fell extra hard today as the major U.S. indices tumbled on news of poor corporate earnings and unimpressive economic reports. The small-cap index lost 32.84 points, or 3.97%, to 795.18—its biggest percentage loss this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) tumbled 362.14 points, or 2.60%, to 13,567.87.

On a year-to-date basis, the Russell 2000 has increased 0.99%, while the Dow has added 8.76% and the S&P 500 has gained 6.48%.

The day began with steep declines on news that Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) suffered a bigger-than-expected drop in third-quarter profit and missed Wall Street’s expectations, while Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was downgraded to “sector underperform” from “sector perform” by investment bank CIBC World Markets over concerns that it might have to cut its dividend to shore up its capital.

Small caps led the way down as stocks dove so sharply that trading curbs were introduced to prevent a massive sell-off.

Investors also had to digest economic news, when the U.S. Commerce Department reported that personal income increased at a seasonally adjusted rate of 0.4% in September, as expected, compared with a rise of 0.3% in August.

However, personal consumption in September increased 0.3%, below the projected rise of 0.4%. That’s a worrying sign that the American consumer might be cutting down on spending in the face of higher oil prices and a recession in the housing sector. In August, personal consumption added a downwardly revised 0.5%.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) and the other major U.S. indices are still well below the flat line on negative news from corporate heavyweights. At 2:01 p.m. ET, the small-cap index had dropped 25.55 points, or 3.9%, to 802.47. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) had lost 264.27 points, or 1.9%, to 13,665.74.

The day began with sharp declines on news that Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) reported a bigger-than-expected drop in third-quarter profit and missed Wall Street’s expectations, while Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was downgraded to “sector underperform” from “sector perform” by investment bank CIBC World Markets over concerns that it might have to cut its dividend to raise more than $30 billion to shore up its capital.

Stocks dove so sharply that trading curbs were introduced to prevent a massive sell-off.

The overwhelmingly bearish mood is also due to investors’ realizations that an additional cut in the target interest rate is unlikely during the remainder of 2007.

On Wednesday the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered the federal funds rate to 4.5% from 4.75% but made no reference about the possibility of future action.

In economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department reported before the opening that the price index for personal consumption expenditures, a measure of inflation, added 0.2% in September after staying put in August. The core PCE, which excludes the more volatile costs of food and energy, also gained 0.2%.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) and the other U.S. indices are falling hard on news of poor corporate earnings and mixed economic reports.

At 10:29 a.m. ET, the small-cap index had lost 20.94 points, or 2.53%, to 807.08. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) was down 224.36 points, or 1.61%, to 13,705.65.

Stocks suffered a steep drop out of the gate following news that Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) reported a bigger-than-expected drop in third-quarter profit and missed Wall Street’s expectations.

The world’s largest publicly traded oil company announced a net income of $1.70 per share, down from $1.77 per share a year earlier and below analysts’ projected earnings of $1.75 per share.

Contributing to the overwhelmingly bearish sentiment was news that Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) was downgraded to “sector underperform” from “sector perform” by investment bank CIBC World Markets. CIBC said that Citigroup might have to cut its dividend or sell assets in order to raise more than $30 billion to shore up its capital.

In economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that personal income increased at a seasonally adjusted rate of 0.4% in September, compared with a rise of 0.3% in August. That’s in line with economists’ expectations.

However, personal consumption in September increased 0.3%, below the projected rise of 0.4%. In August, personal consumption added a downwardly revised 0.5%.

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) futures are lower and the small-cap index will open with a drop on news of a disappointing profit at Exxon Mobil.

The bears are dominant in pre-market trading following news that Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) reported a bigger-than-expected drop in third-quarter profit and missed Wall Street’s expectations.

Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, booked a net income of $1.70 per share, down from $1.77 per share a year earlier and below analysts’ projected earnings of $1.75 per share.

In economic news, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that personal income increased at a seasonally adjusted rate of 0.4% in September, compared with a rise of 0.3% in August. That’s in line with economists’ expectations.

However, personal consumption in September increased 0.3%, below the projected rise of 0.4%. In August, personal consumption added a downwardly revised 0.5%.

Meanwhile, initial jobless claims for the week ended Oct. 27 fell 6,000 to 327,000 on a seasonally-adjusted basis. That’s a larger drop than the one expected by economists. But on the other hand, the four-week average—which is a more stable measure—increased 1,750 last week to 327,000.

Here are the biggest percentage gainers and losers in pre-market trading among companies with a market cap between $100 million and $750 million:

Biggest percentage gainers:

• Dynavax Technologies Corp. (DVAX), up 22% on news of a partnership with pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. (MRK).
• Spreadtrum Communications Inc. (SPRD), up 15% on news of higher third-quarter earnings.
• i2 Technologies Inc. (ITWO), up 14% on news of a higher third-quarter profit.

Biggest percentage losers:

• Smith Micro Software Inc. (SMSI), down 22% on news of a decline in third-quarter profit.
• Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VNDA), down 17% on news it plans to offer $100 million of convertible senior notes due 2014.
• China Precision Steel Inc. (CPSL) down 11% on news it has agreed to issue and sell an aggregate of 7,100,000 shares of its common stock.

First Acceptance Corp. (NYSE: FAC), Oculus Innovative Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: OCLS) and Vicon Industries, Inc. (AMEX: VII) are among the biggest percentage losers in Friday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million.

Here are today's biggest percentage losers: