The markets closed sharply lower over concerns that interest rate cuts are over and the effects of General Motors' plan to close four plants and cut 8,350 jobs will have on the economy. The Dow plummeted 101 points to 12,403 while Nasdaq dropped 11 points to 2480.

On the upside

To expand its customer base, SanDisk (Nasdaq: SNDK) will focus on low cost personal computers and business laptops.

Shares of Royale Energy (Nasdaq: ROYL) surged although the company made no announcements.

Newpark Resources (NYSE: NR) named William D. Moss to the position of President of Newpark's Mats and Integrated Services business.

On the downside

American Oriental Bioengineering (Nasdaq: AOB) plans to raise $125 million through the sale of convertible preferred stock.

Shares of Wachovia (NYSE: WB) continued to fall to close at a 52-week low after announcing the retirement of CEO Ken Thompson yesterday.

On Friday, Eastman Kodak (NYSE: EK) announced price increases of up to 20% on a number of products due to the soaring cost of raw materials.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 5 to 3 on the NYSE and by more than 9 to 7 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 2 points to 739.