Mid-Day Market Update: Markets Continue to Fall; Coal and Defense Sectors Lead the Way

Midway through trading Wednesday, the Dow traded down 2.23 percent to 12,950.17 while the NASDAQ fell 2.39 percent to 2,940.00. The S&P also fell, decreasing 2.17 percent to 1,397.41.

Early Wednesday morning, President Barack Obama was declared the early winner of the 2012 presidential election as he was voted in for a second term. Coal stocks are expected to take a hit from the President's re-election, while Gold and renewable energy stocks are expected to get a boost.

VirmetX

consolidated its gains, remaining up 20.88 percent at $31.78 following the market opening after its patent suit victory against Apple

Wednesday morning. Amyris

rose 19.11 percent to $3.09 after posting a smaller than expected third quarter earnings loss. Shares of Hyperdynamics Corporation

also enjoyed a rally, boosting 22.12 percent to $1.27 after filing a form 8-K after the market close Tuesday.

James River Coal

continued its fall, dropping 21.92 percent to $3.67 following the president's re-election this morning. Shares of Arch Coal

also took a beating following the president's re-election, remaining down 12.59 percent at $7.57. NII Holdings

came back a bit but remained down 7.21 percent at $6.56 following an earnings miss before the market opening Wednesday.

In commodity news, oil traded down 3.96 percent to $85.19, while gold traded down 0.13 percent to $1,716.90. Silver traded down 0.40 percent Wednesday to $31.64.

European markets were largely down Wednesday morning following the US presidential election. Traders may also have been wary of the coming Greek Austerity vote, the results of which are expected after the European close today. In other news, the ECB President Mario Draghi came out with some comments this morning, saying that the euro crisis was impacting the German economy, while Olli Rehn stated that the economic recovery should strengthen in 2013.

There are no major economic releases scheduled for Wednesday.