Wednesday's Financial Winners & Losers

Updated from 2:33 p.m. EDT

Financial stocks were mired far under the wobbly broad indices Wednesday, as the recent tribulations of American Home Mortgage (AHM Quote) continued to bog down the sector's mood.

Shares of AHM recovered marginally from yesterday's roughly 90% nosedive, rising 42.3%, but other names, such as MasterCard (MA Quote), were hit hard regardless of positive news.

The credit-card issuer plunged 6.7% in heavy trading despite topping Wall Street's expectations with second-quarter income of $1.43 a share. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had sought only $1.33 a share, but MasterCard stock closed down $10.80 to $150.

San Francisco broker Thomas Weisel Partners (TWPG Quote) posted non-GAAP earnings of $7.7 million, or 29 cents a share, to smash earnings estimates. Credit-ratings firm Moody's (MCO Quote) likewise came in ahead while authorizing a $2 billion share-repurchase program. Still, Thomas Weisel lost 7.8%, and Moody's traded in the red before rising 3% to close at $55.39.

Advance America Cash Advance Centers (AEA Quote), of Spartanburg, S.C., plummeted nearly 19.3% to $11.84 after a Pennsylvania court ordered the lender to "suspend its current operations and to discontinue its 'Choice Line of Credit'" in that state, concluding a lawsuit brought by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking regarding certain regulatory infractions. The company says it will appeal and that it "has no plans to shut down its centers in Pennsylvania."

In brokerage research, Crystal River Capital (CRZ Quote) shares fell 16.2% after A.G. Edwards cut the mortgage-investment firm to hold from buy, primarily citing the shaky state of the mortgage-lending market. JPMorgan Chase lowered student lender First Marblehead (FMD Quote) to neutral from overweight; First Marblehead closed up 1.6% at $33.48.