Closing Bell: Buffett & Goldman save the day; GS, BRCM, AIG, FNM, SQNM, FSLR

Posted Sep 24th 2008 4:14PM by Jon Ogg
Filed under: After the Bell, Deals, Market Matters, Federal Natl Mtge (FNM), Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Broadcom Corp'A' (BRCM), Financial Crisis

Today would have likely felt like Day 3 of the market siege, but thankfully the master of the universe came to a key firm's rescue. The bad news is that the stock markets were mixed all day and the key index levels didn't gain at the end of the day. The good news is that there was no systematic free fall. Bernanke changed his tone marginally to convey a better bailout message, and Paulson was more on target today in conveying the need and lack of outright costs to the system. Things are so bad that the Presidential campaigns are being put on hold temporarily.

Here are today's unofficial closing bell levels:
DJIA 10,825.17 -29 -0.275%
NASDAQ 2,155.68 +2.35 +0.11%
S&P500 1,185.89 -2.23 -0.19%
10YR T-Note 3.771% (-0.07%)
Top Analyst Upgrades
Top Analyst Downgrades
52-Week Low Club

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) was the real stabilizer today despite what the overall index levels closed at. It raised $5 billion in a stock sale and received a $5 billion investment from Warren Buffett. Shares were up almost 6% at $132.20 right before the close.

Broadcom Corp. (NASDAQ: BRCM) shares were up over 5% at $19.35 in the final minutes today. This is on further clarification in the company's patent victory over its intellectual property.

American International Group (NYSE: AIG) saw shares tank today, again. Shares were down 22% at $3.87 in the final minutes of the day. This is AIG's reward for accepting an $85 billion package from Uncle Sam for an 80% stake.

Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) was up 34% on over 225 million shares at $1.76 today on no short selling and on hopes that the government's bailout package increased chances of approval would spare the company from the hangman.

Sequenom Inc. (NASDAQ: SQNM) was the big biohealth winner today after presenting very positive data on its Down Syndrome tests showing perfect results in 400 screens. Shares were up 35% at $27.85 in the final minutes today.

First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) was one of today's big alternative energy winners. The senate extended solar tax credits after realizing how silly it would have looked if they let them expire. Shares were up 5% at $223.00 in today's final minutes.

Tags: aig, brcm, featured, fnm, fslr, gs, sqnm