Monday's Small-Cap Winners & Losers

Updated from 2:43 p.m. EST with new stock prices

Small-cap stocks were already stumbling in advance of the New Year's festivities, reaching lows more embarrassing than those of the major indices. The Russell 2000 lost 0.7% to 766.03, and the S&P SmallCap 600 dropped 0.7% to 395.14.

Shares of Orange County, Calif.'s Volcom (VLCM Quote) wiped out, losing 5.5% to $22.03. The surf and skateboard apparel maker's chairman, Rene Woolcot, disclosed in a regulatory filing that he had sold 21,796 shares of the company for prices between $25 and $25.25 on Thursday.

Also giving ground was fingerprint identification systems maker Cogent (COGT Quote), shares of which lost 4.1% to $11.15 on speculation over the weekend in Barron's that the company may be overvalued. The weekly publication asserted that national governments, thought to be Cogent's primary market, have been slow to adopt the South Pasadena, Calif.-based company's technology.

On the winning side, Transmeridian Exploration (TMY Quote), a Houston-based acquirer of Kazakh and Russian oil and natural gas, rose 40.7% to $1.97. Transmeridian Exploration announced it agreed to a cash offer from a British Virgin Islands-based entity set up by Lorrie Olivier, Transmeridian's chairman and CEO. The entity, Trans Meridian International, has offered to buy the company for about $825 million, or $3 a share, a 114% premium over Friday's closing price.

Another energy company to jump on share purchases, natural gas developer Delta Petroleum (DPTR Quote) gained 21.5% to $18.85 after the Denver company announced that Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. would invest $684 million in the company. Tracinda's purchase of shares for $19 apiece represents a 23% premium over Friday's closing price. The deal gives Tracinda a 35% stake in the energy company.