The DJIA is in the red with crude oil prices, and as traders eye the Fed
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) dropped out of the gate following hawkish language by one Fed official over the weekend, and amid a sell-off in crude futures. While the Dow made a brief appearance in positive territory, it has since fallen back into the red, taking cues from oil prices; at last check, September-dated crude futures were off 3.1% at $47.01 per barrel. More generally, though, stocks are lower as traders gear up for Friday's speech from Fed Chair Janet Yellen -- which could signal whether the central bank is prepared to lift interest rates at its September meeting.
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Among the stocks with unusual options volume is electronics retailer Best Buy Co Inc (NYSE:BBY), with contracts running at seven times the expected intraday rate ahead of tomorrow morning's earnings report. Buy-to-open activity is detected at several strikes, including the September 34 call and the weekly 8/26 33-strike call. At last check, BBY shares were 0.2% higher at $32.65.
One of the top stocks on the New York Stock Exchange is cloud concern Twilio Inc (NYSE:TWLO), up over 5% at $57.69. In fact, relative to its late-June initial public offering (IPO) price of $15, the shares have nearly quadrupled in value.
One of the worst performers on the Big Board is energy stock Marathon Energy Corporation (NYSE:MRO), sliding 7.5% at $15.55. Prompting the sell-off is the resignation of Chief Financial Officer J.R. Sult.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is up 1.4 points, or 12.7%, at 12.78.
Today's put/call volume ratio on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is 1.49, with puts outstripping calls. At last check, SPY is down 0.2 point, or 0.2%, at $218.18.
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