Everything is under control

After the open… If traders seem a bit spaced-out this morning, it's because yesterday was one of the weirdest trading days in recent memory. The collapse of the Rouble melded with a flash-crash in oil to scare the market senseless, until, as if by hidden signal, all these trends dramatically reversed - the Rouble spiked, oil bounced and stocks raced higher. Later in the day, the bearish sentiments returned, particularly for the stock market, which ended the day on a crushing down note.

But never fear, trading appears comparatively calm this morning. Oil is falling again, stocks are rising, and the Rouble isn't doing anything of note, so all is as it should be again, at least on the surface. Things may still be a bit whacky in the options markets, however, as you can see from the bizarre 09:00 AM put/call ratio of 2.02. The S&P 500 is currently up 0.6%.

Here are your Wednesday morning market metrics. Industries doing well today include Energy Equipment, Oil & Gas and Independent Power. Industries showing weakness include Air Freight, Electrical Equipment and Commercial Services.

The VIX is up 2.5% to 22.99 after closing on Tuesday at 23.05. The most active option strikes are for Pandora ( P ) with 15,362 March 29 calls changing hands. The total put-call volume ratio is 2.02, (322,309/650,613). NYSE Adv/Dec 2,162/799. Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1,645/805.

Julian Close has been a business writer since the first day of the twenty-first century, having written for PRA International and the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping. He graduated from Davidson College in 1993 and received a Master of Arts in Teaching from Mary Baldwin College in 2011. He became a stockbroker in 1993, but now works for Fresh Brewed Media and uses his powers only for good. You can see closing trades for all Julian's long and short positions and track his long term performance via twitter: @JulianClose_MIC .

This article was originally published on MarketIntelligenceCenter.com

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.