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ECB President Mario Draghi will not consider more economic stimulus until 2015
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:DJI) is down after European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi said the central bank will delay the consideration of additional stimulus measures until next year. This overseas news is overshadowing an expected drop in initial jobless claims, which retreated back below the 300,000 level last week. While there's nothing left on the economic docket for this afternoon, Wall Street is eagerly awaiting tomorrow's nonfarm payrolls report and unemployment figures for November. At last check, the DJI was off 83 points, or 0.5%, while the S&P 500 Index (SPX) has given back 10.2 points, or 0.5% -- both pulling back from Wednesday's all-time highs.
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Among the stocks with notable put volume is satellite radio issue Sirius XM Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRI). The stock is off 1% to trade at $3.57, with puts crossing at 125 times the intraday norm. The majority of this volume is the result of a single speculator, who -- according to Trade-Alert -- sold to open 48,210 December 3.50 puts (although the activity appears to be tied to stock).
For more midday statistics and stocks on the move, head to page 2.
One of the major Nasdaq advancers is semiconductor name Avago Technologies Ltd (NASDAQ:AVGO), which has spiked 8.5% to trade at $103.18, after earlier hitting a record high of $103.78. This bullish price movement was sparked by a successful trip to the earnings confessional, and a subsequent round of upbeat analyst notes. This is likely good news for the recent crop of call buyers. AVGO's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 6.31 across the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) ranks in the 70th percentile of its annual range.
Similarly, one of the biggest gainers on the Big Board is specialty retailer Tilly's Inc (NYSE:TLYS). The shares have soared 27.3% to hover near $9, following the company's upbeat third-quarter earnings report and a trio of price-target hikes at B. Riley, Mizuho, and SunTrust Robinson. Nevertheless, the stock is still close to 22% south of breakeven on a year-to-date basis. Digging deeper, a portion of today's technical surge may be the result of short sellers covering their bearish bets. One-tenth of TLY's float is sold short, which equates to 11 days' worth of pent-up buying activity, at typical trading levels.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is up 0.4 point, or 3.1%, to 12.86, but is facing resistance from its 10-day moving average, located at 12.92.
Today's put/call volume ratio on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is 1.63, with puts easily outstripping calls. SPY is down 0.9 point, or 0.4%, at $206.99.