The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) plunged more than 160
points on Tuesday, closing below the psychologically important
11,000 level following a surprise interest rate hike out of China.
But it would appear that some on Wall Street feel the sell-off was
overdone, as futures on the DJIA and the S&P 500 Index (SPX)
are trading roughly 50 points and 6.4 points above fair value
heading into the open. That said, another round of earnings is
slated to hit the Street today, including reports from Boeing Co. (
BA
), eBay Inc. (
EBAY
), and Wells Fargo & Co. (
WFC
). Look for the DJIA to try to reclaim the 11,000 level, with
support at 10,900 and resistance at 11,100. Meanwhile, the SPX
should continue to trade between 1,160 and 1,175.
In equity news, blue chip pharmaceutical concern Pfizer Inc. (
PFE
) is paying $240 million for a 40% stake in Laboratorio Teuto
Brasileiro S.A., a leading Brazilian generic drug firm. Teuto will
also receive a performance-based milestone payment. The deal
includes an option by Pfizer to acquire the remaining 60% stake of
Teuto's shares starting in 2014.
Juniper Networks (
JNPR
) fell 3% in after hours trading after the company reported
non-GAAP net income of $171.5 million, or 32 cents per share, after
the close last night. Revenue jumped nearly 23% to $1.01 billion.
Analysts were expecting earnings of 32 cents per share on revenue
of $1.02 billion for the period.
Elsewhere, Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) reported third-quarter net income
of $396.1 million, or 29 cents per share, on revenue of $1.12
billion. The company's earnings included a 13 cents per share
benefit from the sale of HotJobs. Analysts had expected Yahoo to
report third-quarter earnings of 15 cents per share, and $1.13
billion in net revenue.
Earnings Preview
On the earnings front, Abbott Laboratories (ABT), BlackRock Inc.
(BLK), Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL), Genzyme Corp. (GENZ), Manpower
Inc. (MAN), U.S. Airways Group Inc. (LCC), E*Trade Financial Corp.
(ETFC), Netflix Inc. (NFLX), Seagate Technology plc (STX), and
Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) will release their quarterly reports today. Keep
your browser at
SchaeffersResearch.com
for more news as it breaks.
Economic Calendar
The usual weekly report on U.S. petroleum supplies and the Fed's
Beige Book for October will arrive today. Tomorrow, the Labor
Department's weekly initial jobless claims figures are on tap,
alongside the Conference Board's September leading indicators, and
the Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing index. We end the week on a
quiet note, as there are no major economic reports scheduled for
Friday.
Market Statistics
Equity option activity on the CBOE saw 1,487,792 call contracts
traded on Tuesday, compared to 1,038,752 put contracts. The
resultant single-session put/call ratio arrived at 0.70, while the
21-day moving average rose to 0.59.
**The volume data shown above is from the Nasdaq and NYSE
exchanges only. It does not include regional volume activity,
which means that other daily volume quotes you see may be
higher.**
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Overseas Trading
Overseas trading has a slight positive bias this morning, as six
of the 10 foreign indexes that we track are in positive territory.
However, the cumulative average return on the collective is in
negative territory, resting on a loss of 0.11%. In Asia, stocks
bounced off the morning's lows, in a sign that the initial sell-off
following China's surprise interest rate hike late Tuesday was
overdone. European shares edged higher after minutes from the Bank
of England's Monetary Policy Committee boosted expectations of more
quantitative easing, while Novo Nordisk gained on news of a rival's
setback.
Currencies and Commodities
The U.S. Dollar Index has reversed course today, as investors
returned cautiously to the equities market following yesterday's
China-induced sell-off. So far, the index has fallen 0.6% to 77.72.
Crude futures are also recovering, as the front-month contract has
soared 1.26% to $81.17 per barrel. Finally, gold future are also
recovering from Tuesday's losses, adding $5 to $1,341 an ounce in
London.
Unusual Put and Call Activity:
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Education Center
topics on
Option Volume
and
Open Interest Configurations
.
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