Optimism that lawmakers would finalize a deal to avoid the fiscal before the midnight deadline boosted the markets to a sharply higher close with the Dow leaping 166 points to 13,104. Nasdaq jumped 59 points to 3019. On the upside
The Food and Drug Administration granted Lexicon Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: LXRX) fast track status for its LX1033. Strong growth of manufacturing activity in China in December lifted shares of Cliffs Natural Resources (NYSE: CLF). Three Amyris (Nasdaq: AMRS) directors purchased significant shares of company stock. On the downside Savient Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: SVNT) director Lee S. Simon, M.D. resigned.Cal-Maine Foods (Nasdaq: CALM) disappointed with sharply lower second quarter earnings as expenses climbed. Motley Fool wrote that Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD) was a speculative investment among retail drugstore chains. In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of 9 to 2 on the NYSE and by more than 4 to 1 on Nasdaq. The broader S&P 500 index surged 23 points to 1426.
