Stocks Surrender Gains, Close With Minor Losses

Spanish bank Banco Santander (STD Quote), meanwhile, confirmed it was expanding on its existing stake to buy the entirety of Sovereign Bancorp (SOV Quote) for $1.9 billion. Santander was unchanged at $14.50, and Sovereign ticked down 6.3% to $3.45.

"The market is finding a bottom. It's finding one. Whether Thursday/Friday was the bottom or whether we're going to see another bottom on Wednesday, it really doesn't matter," said Jason Pride, director of research at Haverford Investments. He said the market has experienced a great deal of the downside and is now beginning to resolve itself. "That doesn't mean we're going to propel into the next great market immediately ... but it means that we're working things out now."

There isn't another shoe to drop because of the broader economy, said Pride. He said that recent turmoil in the markets was accounting for the economic impact of the credit crisis. He said some areas of the market, including lower-tier financials, could continue to suffer. "But we're in the process of fixing things and moving out of it," he said.

In the technology space, Internet concerns Yahoo! (YHOO Quote) and Google (GOOG Quote) were working with the Justice Department to try to stave off an antitrust case against a proposed ad-sharing deal between the two companies. Yahoo! gave back 6.2% to $12.65, and Google shed 4.8% to $362.71.

In other legal news, Discover Financial (DFS Quote) settled an antitrust lawsuit against MasterCard (MA Quote) and Visa (V Quote). Shares of Discover were rising on the news. Discover tacked on 11% to $11.76. Visa fell 2.1% to $57.61, and MasterCard was roughly flat at $174.07.