Anchor Bancorp Drops 16%; Pioneer Drilling Up 8.4%

by Kejal Vyas

Renewed concerns over large financial firms and their ability to withstand a global economic correction trickled over to other sectors Tuesday, helping small-capitalization stocks close in negative territory.

Weighing on the financial sector was an avalanche of less-than-encouraging news, starting with several analysts warning about Goldman Sachs’s earnings.

Additionally, J.P. Morgan Chase said it is taking a $1.5 billion write-down on mortgage-backed securities, Morgan Stanley said it is buying back $4.5 billion in auction-rate securities and Wachovia revised its second-quarter loss lower.

Among small-cap financials, regional banks made up the biggest losers as Anchor Bancorp Wisconsin dropped $1.48, or 16%, to $7.97 after posting a 44% drop in fiscal-first-quarter net income. Not too far behind were shares of Sterling Financial, which slumped a dollar, or 10%, to 9.17. […]