Friday's Financial Winners & Losers

Willis Group (WSH Quote) climbed Friday on word it will buy back about $400 million of its shares from J.P. Morgan Securities under its current stock repurchase program. After the deal closes, the share repurchase program will have $339 million of authorization remaining for buyback. Shares were up 59 cents, or 1.6%, to $39.67.

Impac Mortgage (IMH Quote) rose after completing a $1.4 billion securitization on loans totaling $2.4 billion. The Irvine, Calif., mortgage-investment firm also slashed its per-share dividend by 15 cents to a dime, but shares were gaining 31 cents, or 6.8%, to $4.85.

Nymex (NMX Quote) saw heavy trading after a Bank of America analyst said the market's current volatility could amp up trading volume and provide a near-term upward catalyst for the commodities exchange. He upped the stock's rating to buy from neutral. Shares, however, were recently down 57 cents to $135.15.

W.P. Stewart (WPL Quote), meanwhile, fell a day after cutting its dividend to 15 cents a share from 23 cents previously and announcing it will incur an 11-cent per-share charge in the first quarter due to employee terminations. Shares of the Bermuda-based asset manager were slumping $1.03, or 9.4%, to $9.97.

W Holding (WHI Quote) sank on a Cohen Brothers downgrade to sell from hold. Shares of the Puerto Rico-based bank were recently off 27 cents, or 5.1%, to $5.02.