Aggressive efforts to raise cash by financial services company lifted the markets at the opening bell with the Dow soaring over 200 points to 12,470. Nasdaq leaped 40 points to 2319.

On the upside

Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) expected to raise $4 billion to shore up its balance sheet by selling 3 million convertible preferred shares.

UBS (NYSE: UBS) posted a $12 billion loss and announced plans to raise $15 billion in new capital. The chairman of the bank also promised to step down, but not before working to stabilize the company. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB), Germany's largest bank, wrote down $4 billion in losses.

Shares of Buffalo Wild Wings (Nasdaq: BWLD) soared after an analyst upgraded the restaurant chain due to cost-cutting measures and valuation.

On the downside

Imperial Industries (Nasdaq: IPII) posted lower sales and a loss versus year-ago profits due to a sharp decline in residential building activity in Florida.

Agricultural chemical companies were under pressure with shares of Monsanto (NYSE: MON) and Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) falling sharply.

Alpha Natural Resources (NYSE: ANR) announced a $460 million raise through the sale of senior convertible notes.

In the broad market, advancing issues outpaced decliners by a margin of nearly 4 to 1 on the NYSE and by nearly 3 to 1 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks leaped 10 points to 698.