The decision by European officials to provide bailout funds directly to struggling banks sent the markets soaring to a sharply higher close with the Dow rocketing 277 points to 12,880. Nasdaq leaped 85 points to 2935.

On the upside

A Seeking Alpha contributor wrote the Ampio Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: AMPE) had the potential to be a blockbuster stock.

A Seeking Alpha contributor wrote that Gerdau (NYSE: GGB) was undervalued.

ValueClick (Nasdaq: VCLK) announced that second quarter revenue will be at the high end of its guidance.

On the downside

Unilife (Nasdaq: UNIS) priced its offering of 6.154 million common shares at the discounted price of $3.25 per share.

Goldman Sachs analyst Jason English lowered his earnings estimate for Mead Johnson Nutrition (NYSE: MJN).

Standard & Poor's downgraded AK Steel Holding's (NYSE: AKS) rating from BB- to B+.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 7 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 6 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks surged 22 points to 798.