May 25, 2016 Market Wrap Up

May 25, 2016 tvcuser Education, Trading BABA, BREW, Data, Earnings, Economic, Events, EXPR, S&P 500, SRPT, USO, VIX, WLL

The S&P 500 continued its climb back to all-time highs; we’re now a little less than 2% off that. Not to mention, 15% higher than our 6-month lows. One could argue that this is all being done on anemic volume, however; fighting the tape can be very costly during times like this.

Stocks in play today: Alibaba Group (BABA) -7.3%, Express (EXPR) -8.4%, Whiting Petroleum (WLL) +14.5%, and Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT) +26%

It was no surprise to see the VIX sell off as hard as it did. Overall, the VIX closed below 14, finishing the day 3.6% lower.

The United States Oil Fund (USO) was up nearly 2% today. In addition, crude oil futures closed at this year’s highs. We’re now nearly 50% off the 3-month lows.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Craft Brew (BREW), which was 69.2 times normal volume. We also saw a ton of bearish bets being placed in Alibaba Group (BABA). Overall, the option action in Alibaba was 5.9 times above the average.

Here’s what’s left for the rest of the week:

Key Economic Data:
26 May 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, Durable Goods Orders 8:30 AM ET
27 May 2016- GDP 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
26 May 2016- ANF, DG, FRED, GME, PANW, SPLK, ULTA, VEEV, VNET

Key Events:
Morgan Stanley China Conference (runs till 5/26)
UBS Global Oil & Gas Conference (runs till 5/26)

August 27, 2015 Market Wrap Up

August 27, 2015 tvcuser Education, Trading China, Data, Earnings, Economic, FCX, S&P 500, trading, USO, VIX, WFC, WLL

August 27, 2015 Market Wrap Up

The S&P 500 showed some nice bounce today after yesterday’s big spike higher. The market jumped after solid GDP numbers; and it’s now up more than 6%, about 150 points away from the yearly highs.

Of course, all eyes will be on China to see how their markets open.

The VIX closed at 26.10, down 13.9%. That’s well off our recent high of 42 and change.

The energy sector saw a huge bounce today. The United States Oil Fund (USO) was up nearly 10%. Is this a dead cat bounce or is the near term bottom in? Only time will tell.

On the options front, we saw bullish call buying in Whiting Petroleum (WLL). We also saw bearish option activity in Wells Fargo Bank (WFC).

In after hours action, activist investor, Carl Icahn disclosed a stake in Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FCX). The stock is up over 50% in extended hours trading.

Here’s what else is going on:

Key Economic Data:
28 August 2015- Personal Income 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
28 August 2015- BIG