The 10 Biggest Nasdaq Losers of October

The Nasdaq Composite Index is a collection of roughly 3,000 companies that are listed on the Nasdaq exchange. As one of the largest market indexes, the Nasdaq Composite includes domestic and international companies and is closely followed by investors. While the Nasdaq Composite Index has lost 17.7% in the month of October, its bottom 10 companies have seen their stock prices fall even further. Since companies may be delisted from the Nasdaq from time to time, our ten biggest Nasdaq losers had market caps of at least $200 million as of Oct. 31, 2008.

Of course, a stock's price can drop for reasons both significant (e.g., the emergence of a powerful competitor) and insignificant (e.g., tax selling). Hence a large drop in stock price could offer a unique buying opportunity, but it could also present a value trap.

That's why we've paired the 10 biggest Nasdaq losers for the month of October with the intelligence of our 120,000-member-strong Motley Fool CAPS community. Each company's CAPS rating should offer some insight into how our community views the company. As always, though, you should conduct your own fundamental research.

For the month of October, here are the Nasdaq's ten biggest market losers.

Source: Capital IQ and Motley Fool CAPS.

Join us on CAPS to further your research into these companies.

Curious about other market losers? Check out the biggest losers of the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 indexes.