The major indices fall to session lows. The financial sector is the main laggard (-2.6%), although materials (-1.6%) and telecom (-1.5%) are also posting steep declines.
Shares of Motorola (MOT 9.62, +0.81) are getting a
nice 9% boost on news that the struggling communication equipment
company appointed Dr. Sanjay Jha as co-CEO of Motorola and CEO of
Motorola Mobile Devices. Jha was previously COO and president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies. Separately, Imclone (IMCL 64.61, -0.73) formed a committee to study the all-cash $60 per share, or $4.5 billion, buyout offer from Bristol-Myers Squibb
(BMY 21.27, +0.16). Imclone gave a preliminary view that the offer,
which represented a 29% premium, "substantially undervalues" IMCL. The
market expected Imclone to respond in this manner, as shares of IMCL
had already rose well above the buyout bid.