Thursday's Financial Winners & Losers

Countrywide Financial's (CFC Quote) dramatic fall crushed loads of financial stocks Thursday even as a number of names managed to climb on positive news.

Countrywide stock, which plummeted Weenesday on a Merrill Lynch downgrade to sell, took another beating on bankruptcy fears as the Calabasas, Calif., lender drew down its $11.5 billion credit line. Moody's and Fitch cut Countrywide's rating in response. Shares were down starkly in extremely heavy action before retreating to a 13.2% loss at $18.49.

Among the reams of financial stocks pulled down with Countrywide was online broker E*Trade (ETFC Quote), recently down 8.3% in furious trading. Commodities exchange Nymex (NMX Quote) slid 10.4%; lender CIT (CIT Quote) sank 7.5%; and broker Goldman Sachs (GS Quote) was off 0.8% at $163.54 in heavier-than-usual trading.

On the other hand, First Charter (FCTR Quote) soared 37.8% after the Charlotte, N.C., bank agreed to sell itself to Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB Quote) for $31 a share in stock and cash -- a 53% premium to its latest close. The $1.1 billion deal should complete in the first quarter of next year. First Charter shares jumped $7.65 to $27.90.

Shares of Fifth Third, which was cut to underperform at Friedman Billings, shed $1.01, or 2.7%, to $36.37.

Friedman upgraded KKR Financial (KFN Quote) to outperform, however, after the San Francisco-based firm expressed belief that it has "ample liquidity" to meet its financial obligations and to keep its core business running. The company was in free fall yesterday after selling about $5.1 billion in residential-mortgage loans, but today shares surged 19.4% to $12.56 in partial recovery.