Stocks On The Move - August 8

Stocks Rise on Heavy Volumn:

• Microtek Medical Holdings Inc. (MTMD): shares of surgical products maker surged 27.93% to $6 per share on merger with Ecolab. Ecolab will pay $275 million or $6.3 to acquire 43.5 million shares of Microtek. The stock was the seventh leading gainer on Nasdaq with 7 million shares traded.
• Alesco Financial Inc. (AFN): another hard beaten REIT company attracting bargain hunters today was Philadelphia based Alesco Financial with shares soaring 37.6% to $5.05 per share. the company reported strong second quarter earnings on Tuesday night. The stock was the fourth leading gainer on NYSE with 5.78 million shares traded.

Stock Drop on Heavy Volumn:

• Heelys Inc. (HLYS): shares of children's footwear maker plunged 48.07% to $11.42 per share on weak outlook below analyst estimate. The stock was the biggest decliner on HLYS today with 8.23 million shares traded.
• James River Coal Co. (JRCC): shares of Richmond, Virgina based coal's mining company plummetted 45.17% to $5 per share due to high inventories, new safety regulations and soften coal market. The stock was the second leading decliner on Nasdaq today with 7 million shares traded.