Premarket Movers: Bear Stearns Rises

A New York Times report said the companies were discussing a bid in which JPMorgan would pay $10 per share for Bear, five times the offer JPMorgan made a week earlier.

Shares soared $3.99, or 67 percent, in early trading to $9.95 while JPMorgan shares lost 56 cents to $45.41.

Following a report in The Wall Street Journal that lender CIT Group Inc. seeks to raise new capital, its shares added $1.28, or 14.3 percent, to $11.01. A note from an Oppenheimer analyst, however, warned that the lender waited too long to consider new business strategies, and will be forced into a sale.

Shares of satellite radio providers XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. both rose in early trading as Sirius continues its quest to buy out its rival. XM shares rose 83 cents, or 7 percent, to $12.77 while Sirius shares added 17 cents, or 5.9 percent, to $3.07.

On the losing side, shares of Wells Fargo & Co. slid 74 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $31.81 after its stock was downgraded by a Robert W. Baird analyst to "Underperform" from "Neutral."