Stocks Slip on Greece Concerns .....Stocks Slump ahead of Greece Deal. ( NTRI, MRK, DKS, VRML, HNR, JPM, USO, GLD )

U.S. Stocks slumped on Tuesday as investors are concerned that Greece may not be able to reach a debt swap deal with the private bond holders on Thursday. Any failure of the deal would make the euro zone region in big trouble as countries like Spain and Italy may require additional funding to avoid default.The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 158 points, or 1.2%, to 12,815. The S&P fell 14.79 points, 17.50 or 1.30%, to 1,347. The Nasdaq Composite COMP -eroded 39points, or 1.3%, to 2,912. 

This morning, Reuters reported that IIF document disclosed that any failure of Greek default swap would cost the euro zone as much as than 1 trillion euros ($1.36 trillion), including €160 billion in bank recapitalization costs.Greece is set to auction its bond in order to reduce its debt load by €100 billion by writing down on privately held Greek bonds by 53.5%, which would lead the country to get its another bailout fund and therefore avoid the country’s bankruptcy later this month.On Monday, stocks ended with modest losses as China decided to reduced its FY2012 economic growth  forecast to 7.50% for the first time in past 8-years, the country is going experience growth rate below symbolic 8% mark.Stocks In focus:In the earnings news, NutriSystem Inc.(NASDAQ:NTRI) shares are sliding over 7.50% after the company forecasted a lower than estimated earnings outlook for the FY2012, followed by downgrades by couple of brokerage firms. The company expects to earn 45 cents to 55 cents in FY2012, well below analysts’ consensus of 92 cents.Merck & Co., Inc.(NYSE:MRK) fell over 1% in the morning session after the projected lower than estimated  earnings for first-quarter. The company projects to earn 95 cents to 98 cents a share, missing analysts’ target by 6 cents.

The company is also projecting to hurt its top line by 1-2% due to currency fluctuation.Dicks Sporting Goods Inc(NYSE:DKS) is up 1.84% to $46.41 after the company reported in line fourth-quarter profit. The company earned $111.1 million, or 88 cents a share on revenue of $1.61 billion, compared to analysts’ estimates of 88 cents a share on revenue of $1.61 billion. The company expects to earn $2.38 to $2.41 in FY2012.In the corporate news, Vermillion, Inc.(NASDAQ:VRML) is the biggest gainer and soared 43.61% to $1.91 after the company got green signal form the American Medical Association (AMA) Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) Panel for an application for a Category 1 CPT code for its OVA1® test.Harvest Natural Resources, Inc.(NYSE:HNR) soared 31.63% to $8.24 after the company provide an impressive updates for its 32-percent-owned Venezuelan affiliate, Petrodelta, S.A. (Petrodelta) as well as Harvest's international exploration activity, as well as reserves and corporate and financial reporting matters.Financial stocks are under pressure with the broader weakness including Citigroup Inc.(NYSE:C) slumped 3.80% to $32.40 and JPMorgan Chase & Co.(NYSE:JPM) lost 2.40%.In the commodities space, Crude oil slumped over 1.30% to $105.30 a barrel, Gold lost about 1.90% to $1673 an ounce. United States Oil Fund LP (ETF)(NYSEARCA:USO) is down over 1% and SPDR Gold Trust (ETF)(NYSEARCA:GLD) fell over 2.10%.