Stocks Find No Solace in Fed

Barclays denied the report, but its shares lost $2.33, or 4.8%, at $46.61.

Elsewhere, Citigroup (C Quote - Cramer on C - Stock Picks), Lehman Brothers (LEH Quote - Cramer on LEH - Stock Picks) and Bear Stearns (BSC Quote - Cramer on BSC - Stock Picks) were all downgraded to neutral from buy by Merrill Lynch. All were lower by 3.5% or more.

Jitters over the economic reports and the Fed outweighed M&A news. Medco Health (MHS Quote - Cramer on MHS - Stock Picks) said it will acquire PolyMedica (PLMD Quote - Cramer on PLMD - Stock Picks) for $1.5 billion, a 17% premium to the stock's last closing price. Medco shed 1.2% to $85.11, while PolyMedica jumped 14.1% to close at $51.69.

Wendy's (WEN Quote - Cramer on WEN - Stock Picks) traded higher after word that Triarc (TRY Quote - Cramer on TRY - Stock Picks), which owns the Arby's restaurant name, and Nelson Peltz's Trian Fund may purchase the restaurant chain. Wendy's gained 70 cents, or 2.2%, to $32.69.

Home Depot (HD Quote - Cramer on HD - Stock Picks) confirmed that it will take less than it had planned for its supply unit, saying it will sell 87.5% of the division to private equity investors for $8.5 billion. Home Depot will retain a 12.5% stake. Previously, the sale was priced above $10 billion. Shares added 3 cents, or 0.1%, to close at $35.05.

Away from stocks, the front-month October crude contract ended lower by 19 cents to $71.74 a barrel. Gasoline prices were lower by 2 cents at $2.02 a gallon.

Treasury bonds went higher. The 10-year note rose 11/32 in price, yielding 4.53%. The 30-year bond was up 1/32 in price to yield 4.85%.

Asia's markets finished lower overnight. Hong Kong's Hang Seng eased nearly 1%, and Japan's Nikkei 225 dipped 0.1%. In Europe, London's FTSE 100 was off 1.9%, and Germany's Xetra Dax was down 0.7%.

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