Smallcaps Hit Hardest During Afternoon Sell-off

Excerpt from our One Page Annotated Wall Street Journal Summary (receive it by email every morning by signing up here):

SMALL STOCKS: Georgia Gulf and Biosite Decline; CryoCor, Wolverine Tube Surge

• Summary: Small stocks dove and underperformed their larger counterparts as the chemicals and biotech sectors faced heavy selling pressure. The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks lost 1.3% while the S&P's SmallCap 600 index lost 1.2%. The commodity-chemicals group slid after large-cap Dow Chemical (DOW) reported a drop in second-quarter net income because of higher costs for energy and raw materials. Wellman (WLM) lost 7.4%. Small biotech stocks declined, following the lead of Biosite (BSTE), which reported a 43% decline in its second-quarter net income because of the cost of settling a patent suit and higher research and administrative costs. Biosite lost 5.35, or 12%, to 39.75. In terms of individual performers, Skechers USA (SKX) fell 15% after the company's second-quarter results came in below analysts' expectations. Blockbuster (BBI) fell 12% after reporting a weak second quarter. Checkpoint Systems (CKP) fell 21% after reporting that second-quarter net income tumbled 45%. In gainers, Wolverine Tube (WLV) jumped 16% after the copper-tube maker swung to a second-quarter profit, reflecting strong wholesale-market conditions.
• Comment on related stocks/ETFs: See more on Biosite, and Blockbuster's latest conference call transcript. And don't confuse Checkpoint Systems (CKP) with Check Point Software Technologies (CHKP)!