• Gold producer Newmont Mining’s (NYSE:NEM) shares fell 1.27% to close at $64.44 after the company announced the name of Gary Goldberg as its new COO. Mr. Goldberg was earlier associated with Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO)

• Share prices of discount retailer 99 Cents Only Stores (NYSE:NDN) increased 4.39% after the company agreed to be acquired for about $1.6 billion in cash

• Share prices of First Solar Inc (NASDAQ:FSLR) declined 6.47% after Raymond James Financial Inc. (NYSE:RJF) lowered its estimates for the solar sector

• Share prices of professional beauty supplies distributor Sally Beauty Holdings Inc. (NYSE:SBH) slipped 5.98% after the company announced it would issue 15 million shares in a secondary public offering

• AMR Corp.’s (NYSE:AMR) subsidiary American Airlines announced that it would retire up to 11 Boeing 757 aircraft next year to counter rising fuel costs and a lackluster economy. Following this development, shares of AMR Corp gained 7.11% to close the day's trade at $2.71

• Shares of BigBand Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:BBND) registered huge gains after the digital-video equipment company agreed to be purchased by Arris Group Inc. (NASDAQ:ARRS) for $2.24 a share

• Analysts at Deutsche Bank upgraded shares of Wausau Paper (NYSE:WPP) from "Hold" rating to "Buy" rating with a target price of $9.00 on the stock

• Analysts at Barclays Capital upgraded shares of Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) from "Equal Weight" rating to "Overweight" rating with a target price of $35.00 on the stock

• Shares of online movie rental company Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) were upgraded by Hudson Square Research to "Hold" rating from "Sell" rating

• Shares of Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) were upgraded by analysts at Dahlman Rose from "Hold" rating to "Buy" rating with a target price of $47.00 on the stock