Dow Loses 200-Point Gain, Settles 75 Points Lower

Claman on Call: FBN’s Liz Claman with an after-hours web exclusive on the markets, oil prices, Lululemon stock and a possible merger between Dow Chemical and DuPont.

A whiplash for the markets Wednesday as the Dow lost its 200-point gain and endured a 364-point swing before finally settling lower by 75 points. The Nasdaq also plummeted by 75 points, while the S&P 500 lost nearly 16 points.

Oil extended its losing streak to four sessions in a row. Pressure from a fall in heating oil prices helped to undermine support from the first decline in U.S. crude supplies in 11 weeks. Oil fell almost 1% to settle at $37.16 per barrel. Crude is down 9.5% in the last four days.

Lululemon (NASDAQ:LULU) was in a downward motion Wednesday. Its stock closed down 13% after the active wear company missed its sales estimates. This just adds to the pain for Lulu; the company has seen a 29% plunge in just the past three months.

What do you get when you mix Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW) and DuPont (NYSE:DFT) in a market petri dish? Skyrocketing stocks! The two are in advanced talks to merge in a massive chemical merger! If it happens, it'll be one of the biggest deals on record for 2015.

The two companies are reportedly worth nearly $120 billion together. Terms of the deal couldn't be detailed just yet, but people familiar with the merger said it would be a merger of equals. The companies were expected to announce the deal as early as Thursday.

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer did an about face Wednesday, officially announcing plans to abandon the idea of spinning off its $35 billion stake in Chinese Internet retailer Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) due to tax challenges and will instead spin off some of its core businesses. Yahoo investors seemed skeptical, as the stock closed down more than 1%