Stockhouse @ the Bell: Stocks slammed on Euro break up rumours

Today on Stockhouse

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David Fessler of Investment U outlines how to play America's fourth biggest oil producing state.

Top Bullboards post: “If TRR gets bought out it will be for more than $100/0z, Frontier got bought out for $400/oz and gold is going over $2000 in 2012 or sooner so I think we'll see $300-$400/0z. TRR has location, location and open pit deposits are much more desirable than underground mining. If they have 10 mill oz or more and we get a bidding war I think $10-$12 is very realistic, love to see it before end of year for sure when we get the updated 43-101.” From alex64 on the Trelawney Mining and Exploration (TSX: V.TRR, Stock Forum) board.

Top Bullboard: Wi-LAN Inc. (TSX: T.WIN, Stock Forum) received the most reads and the second-most posts on a day its share price slipped more than 7%.

Top blog:littleguy123 explains how he believes silver shorting is destroying the market in the Outside the Market blog.

For news about small stocks that made big moves Wednesday’s trading, please read the Stockhouse Canadian Small and Micro-cap Stock Report.

Word on Wall Street

"This is a crisis of confidence, not of fundamentals," said Mark McCormick, currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman, in an interview with CNNMoney. "Italy's debt level is sustainable, but it needs to implement policies that will support economic growth."

Today In The Markets

Stock markets plunge on Italian debt worries, failure of Greek negotiations

DJIA	11,780.94	-389.24
NASDAQ	2,621.65	-105.84
S&P500	1,229.10	-46.82
S&P/TSX	12,156.22	-332.63
S&P/TSX Venture	1,621.00	-48.67

TORONTO, NEW YORK (CP) - TORONTO, NEW YORK (CP) - The Toronto stock market tumbled more than 300 points Wednesday and commodity prices retreated amid a fresh wave of anxiety about Europe's debt crisis.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 332.64 points to 12,156.22 as traders worried that Italy's borrowing costs are becoming too large to handle while talks aimed at establishing a new government in Greece disintegrated. The TSX Venture Exchange fell 48.67 points to 1,621.

U.S. markets tumbled as the Dow Jones industrials slid 389.24 points to 11,780.94 and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 105.84 points to 2,621.65 and the S&P 500 index fell 46.82 points to 1,229.1.

Please click here for the complete U.S. and Canadian market summaries.

After-Hours News

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO, Stock Forum)
After Wednesday's close, the networking equipment giant reported a fiscal first-quarter profit of $1.8 billion, or 33 cents a share, compared with a profit of $1.9 billion, or 34 cents a share for the year-earlier period. Revenue was $11.26 billion, up from $10.75 billion. Adjusted profit was 43 cents a share. Analysts had expected earnings of 40 cents a share on revenue of $11 billion.

Birchcliff Energy (TSX: T.BIR, Stock Forum)
The oil and gas explorer, after Wednesday's closing bell, announced a third-quarter net profit of $11.4 million, or nine cents a share, compared with $5.5 million, or four cents a share, a year ago. Revenue rose 31% to $64 million. The company expects average 2011 production to be 18,100-18,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), slightly below its previous forecast of 18,500 boepd. Birchcliff also expects to exit 2012 with a production of about 28,000 boepd.