US stocks dropped on Wednesday as weaker-than-expected durable goods and housing data further dampened investor sentiment.
Below we highlight few companies whose shares are actively trading in Wednesday's session.
Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) rose nearly 1% after it announced that more new generation Kindles were ordered in the first four weeks of availability than in the same timeframe following any other Kindle launch, making the new Kindles the fastest-selling ever. In addition, in the four weeks since the introduction of the new Kindle and Kindle 3G, customers ordered more Kindles on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk combined than any other product, continuing Kindle's over two-year run as the bestselling product across all the products sold on Amazon.com.
Shares of Genzyme Corp. (NASDAQ: GENZ) fell nearly 1% after Bloomberg reported that Sanofi-Aventis SA is unwilling to pay more than $70 a share for the biotechnology company and may consider alternative takeover targets.
Cereplast, Inc. (NASDAQ: CERP) soared more than 5% after it announced that it has entered into a multi-million dollar contract with RI.ME. Masterbatch S.r.l., based in Mozzate (CO), Italy, to supply bioplastic resins for use in its masterbatch process for adding colorant to bulk, uncolored resins. The new agreement supports RI.ME.'s commitment to offering its customers sustainable, environmental solutions in the design and production of masterbatches.
Berkshire Bancorp (NASDAQ: BERK) surged as much as 22% after it agreed to be acquired by Customers USA Bank today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Reading, PA based Berkshire Bancorp and its subsidiary Berkshire Bank. Customers USA Bank is a service mark for which New Century Bank is seeking approval.
AdvanSource Biomaterials Corporation (AMEX: ASB) soared more than 85% after it announced that it has received a "Notice of Allowance" from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in connection with its antimicrobial patent application filed in June 2007.
Disclosure: Author doesn't own any of the stocks discussed here.
