The latest round of blue-chip earnings has the DJIA posting solid gains at midday
After slipping into negative territory at the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was last seen trading higher, as stocks react to a fresh round of corporate earnings, while President Donald Trump's policies remain in focus. Although blue-chip telecommunications stock Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) is suffering heavy post-earnings losses, a well-received quarterly report from DuPont (NYSE:DD) -- as well as a solid day for Big Blue -- is guiding the Dow higher. Meanwhile, Trump repeated his hopes for large corporate tax cuts when he met with major U.S. automakers this morning, and signed an executive order to advance the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines.
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Among the stocks with unusual options volume is luxury goods name Coach Inc (NYSE:COH), just a day after M&A rumors swept through the sector. Today, COH is up 2.7% at $36.41, with options volume running at six times the normal rate for this point in the day. The most popular options by far are the February 36 put and the March 37 call. While traders are seemingly closing positions at the former strike, the latter option is attracting buyers today. As such, these bulls are expecting COH to rally above $37 over the next two months. The company is scheduled to report earnings ahead of the open next Tuesday, Jan. 31.
One of the top gainers on the Nasdaq today is tech interest Universal Display Corporation (NASDAQ:OLED), gaining 7.6% to $66.26, as the stock extends its recent hot streak. Specifically, OLED has rallied over 38% since its October low of $47.88. Still, short interest on the shares continues to rise.
Conversely,
DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ:DRYS) continues to underperform on the Nasdaq, sliding another 13.3% today to trade at $4.68. Shares of the shipping stock exploded to as high as $816 in mid-November, but it's been all downhill since. DRYS earlier touched a record low of $4.42.
The
CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is down 0.3 point, or 2.8%, at 11.44.
Today's put/call volume ratio on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is 1.51, as puts outpace calls. The SPY was last seen up 0.7 point, or 0.3%, at $226.85.
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