July 28, 2016 Market Wrap Up

The S&P 500 closed relatively flat ahead of a heavy earnings schedule and the aftermath of the FOMC meeting.

Stocks in play today include: Cirrus Logic (CRUS) +19.2%, Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ) +7.7%, Infinera (INFN) -33.6%, and GNC Holdings (GNC) -25%.

The VIX closed lower, now trading below 13 at 12.72.

Crude oil futures are down 6 straight days, trading barely above $41 per barrel.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in FireEye (FEYE), which traded 4.9 times normal volume. We also saw a ton of bearish bets being placed in Seadrill (SDRL), which traded 2.2 times usual volume.

This evening we got earnings out of Amazon (AMZN) +4.3%, Alphabet (GOOGL) +6.3%, Expedia (EXPE) -3.5%, and Eastman Chemical (EMN) -6.6% to name a few.

Here’s what’s on tap for tomorrow:

Key Economic Data:
29 July 2016- GDP 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
29 July 2016- ABBV, AN, BUD, CBOE, CPN, CVX, LYB, MRK, NWL, PSX, SAVE, UPS, WG, XOM

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April 19, 2016 Market Wrap Up

The market was relatively mixed today, with the Dow Jones Industrials, S&P 500 trading higher, while, the Nasdaq closed lower due to some poor earnings results in some heavily weighted companies like Netflix.

The VIX sold off a little bit, closing the day at 13.24. This the fourth straight close under 14, and the second lowest closing print of the year.

Crude Oil has had a nice bounce off Sunday’s lows, following an unproductive Doha meeting. WTI Crude closed the day above 41, at 41.08.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Deere & Co. (DE). In addition, we saw heavy put buying in Cardinal Health (CAH), which saw 6.2 times usual options volume.

Stocks in play included: IBM (IBM) -5.6%, Netflix (NFLX) -12.9%, and SeaDrill (SDRL) +12.9%

Here’s what’s left this week:

Key Economic Data:
20 April 2016- Existing Home Sales 10:00 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
21 April 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
20 April 2016- ABT, ARMH, ASML, CHKP, EMC, CP, KO, HBAN, ITW, SAP, TUP, USB, AXP, CCK, CTXS, FFIV, MAT, NEM, QCOM, SYK, YUM, VMI
21 April 2016- ALK, BBT, BIIB, BK, CFG, DGX, DHI, FCS, FITB, GM, KCG, KEY, LUV, PPG, PHM, SHW, UA, UNP, VZ, AMD, GOOGL, MSFT, SBUX, SWN, V, SLB
22 April 2016- CAT, GE, KMB, MCD, SYF, STI

April 12, 2016 Market Wrap Up

The market had a nice bounce after yesterday’s sell off. In fact, we’re not too far off most recent highs. With that said, earnings have kicked off and much of the focus will be on that over the next several weeks.

The VIX sold off nearly 9%, closing the day at 14.85.

One of the sectors on fire was energy. The United States Oil Fund (USO) was up over 2.5%, closing the day at 10.64. Crude Oil is closed above $41 per barrel, sitting around 3 month highs.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Synaptics, Incorporated (SYNA). In addition, we saw heavy put buying in Boston Properties, Inc. (BXP), which saw 8.7 times usual options volume.

Stocks in play included: Chesapeake Energy (CHK) +33%, Juniper Networks (JNPR) -7%, Seadrill (SDRL) +22%, and Horizon Pharma (HZNP) (-25%)

As mentioned, earnings season is going to start picking up some steam. Here’s what is on tap for tomorrow and the rest of the week.

Key Economic Data:
13 April 2016- Retail Sales 8:30 AM ET, PPI-FD 8:30 AM ET, EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
14 April 2016- Consumer Price Index 8:30 AM ET, Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET
15 April 2016- Industrial Production 9:15 AM ET

Key Earnings:
13 April 2016- JPM, PIR
14 April 2016- BAC, BLK, DAL, PGR, TSM, WFC, AMD, CHKE
15 April 2016- C, RF, SCHW

March 8, 2016 Market Wrap Up

The equity markets declined for the first time in six trading days. With that said, we got some volatility back, with the S&P 500 dropping more than 1% and the VIX closing 7% higher at 18.67.

Oil has been on a tear of late, however; we did see some selling pressure today. The United States Oil Fund (USO) closed the day down more than 4%, at $9.64.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Green Plains (GPRE). In addition, we saw heavy put buying in Unum Group (UNM), which was 4.1 times usual options volume.

Stocks in play included: Ep Energy (EPE) -17%, Seadrill (SDRL) -21%, and Urban Outfitters (URBN) +16%

Here’s what’s on tap for tomorrow and the rest of the week:

Key Economic Data:
9 March 2016- EIA Petroleum Status Report 10:30 AM ET
10 March 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
9 March 2016- COKE, SQ, VVUS, FRPT, ONCE, VRA
10 March 2016- BONT, CSIQ, BOOM, FNSR, PAY, ULTA

Key Conferences:
Raymond James Institutional Investors Conference (runs till 3/9)
Cowen & Co 36th Annual Healthcare Conference (runs till 3/9)
Deutsche Bank Media, Internet and Telecom Conference (runs till 3/9)
Piper Jaffray Technology, Media & Telecom Conference (runs till 3/9)
RBC Financial Institutions Conference (runs till 3/9)
JPMorgan Aviation, Transportation, & Industrials Conference (runs till 3/10)