7 Stocks you need to know for Wednesday

Stocks closed down today on dire housing figures. The Dow dropped 100.28 to 8419.49. The Nasdaq dipped 10.81 to 1521.54 and the S&P gave back 8.47 to 863.16.

Here are 7 Stocks You Need to Know for Wednesday.

One day after warning that the company was likely to report its first annual operating losss, Toyota Motor Company (TM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) announced that its president Katsuaki Watanabe would be leaving his post in 2009.

GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) reported that it would stop using corporate money for political donations. The company donated more than $600,000 in political contributions in Canada and the United States in 2008.

Shares of Palm (PALM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) have been moving higher over the past few days as traders and investors cheered news that the smartphone maker had received $100 million in additional funding from private equity firm, Elevation Partners.

On a day when the world's largest Ferris wheel (located in Singapore) broke down, stranding more than 100 riders, Walt Disney (DIS | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) reported that it was looking to expand its theme park in Hong Kong.

CIT Group (CIT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) learned on Tuesday that it had received preliminary approval to receive more than $2 billion in funds from the Treasury department's TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program).

Wachovia (WB | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) shareholders approved of the merger with Wells Fargo (WFC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) Tuesday morning.