Monday was a no good, very bad day across Wall Street, and as usual, the energy industry went along for the ride. For the energy merchants, however, it was more like getting hit by a truck.

El Paso Corp.’s shareholders, reacting to the federal ruling on Monday, pulled their money out in record numbers, with more than 50.8 million shares changing hands; the company’s average day of trading is a little more than 8 million (see related story).

In the end, El Paso had lost 36% of its share value, or $4.16, to close at $7.51.

The rest of the energy merchant sector did not fare much better. Already downtrodden Dynegy Corp., which opened at $1.37, lost another 15% to close at $1.17. Meanwhile, Calpine Corp. also lost more than 13% to end at $2.98.

Also losing in the double digits were Reliant Resources Inc., which dropped 12% to close at $3.11 and Williams Cos., which dropped 15% to close at $1.99. Duke Energy was lower as well, although it managed to only lose 59 cents to close at $19.81 after a disastrous day last Friday.

Recording gains were several companies in the oil services market, which gained as did crude oil. Also gaining were several producers, including Apache Corp., Burlington Resources Inc. and Ocean Energy.

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