Q2 STOCKS TO BUY

The Dow Waits for Direction from Fed, Greece Update

Greece will formally submit a loan-extension request today

Feb 18, 2015 at 8:36 AM
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After eking out a win on Tuesday -- and finishing a second straight day north of 18,000 -- the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:DJI) is poised for a breather this morning. However, there are plenty of market-moving events on the day's docket, including Greece's formal submission for a loan extension and the minutes from the latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. Also slated for release today are reports on housing starts, inflation, and industrial production.

And now, on to the numbers...

Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P and Nasdaq futures

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average 2 Minute (INDEXDJX:.DJI) are about 20 points below fair value.

Market Statistics

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 1 million call contracts traded on Tuesday, compared to 586,234 put contracts. The resultant single-session equity put/call ratio rose to 0.58, while the 21-day moving average fell to 0.65.

NYSE and Nasdaq summary

Volatility indices

Currencies and Commodities

  • The U.S. dollar index is up 0.2% at 94.28.
  • Crude oil is poised to snap its recent winning streak, down 1.9% at $53.25 per barrel.
  • Gold, meanwhile, is off 0.2% at $1,205.90 per ounce.
Currencies and commodities

Earnings and Economic Data

Housing starts, industrial production data, January's producer price index (PPI) and core PPI, and the FOMC's meeting minutes come out today. Actavis (ACT), Angie's List (ANGI), Avis Budget (CAR), Barrick Gold (ABX), BioCryst Pharmaceuticals (BCRX), Denny's (DENN), Fluor (FLR), Garmin (GRMN), Hecla Mining (HL), Huntsman (HUN), Intrepid Potash (IPI), Key Energy Services (KEG), Marathon Oil (MRO), Marriott (MAR), Pharmacyclics (PCYC), SolarCity (SCTY), SunEdison (SUNE), Sunoco (SUN), Virgin America (VA), Williams Companies (WMB), and Yandex N.V. (YNDX) will report earnings. To see what's coming up on this week's agenda, click here.

Overseas Trading

A record-setting day on Wall Street translated into gains for Asian benchmarks. Japan's Nikkei rallied 1.2%, amid a cooling yen and news the Bank of Japan stood pat on its current monetary policy, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng tacked on 0.2%. Markets in Shanghai and South Korea were shuttered for the Lunar New Year.

European markets are mostly higher at midday, thanks to a round of well-received earnings reports. Meanwhile, traders are keeping a cautious eye trained on Greece, which will submit a loan-extension request later today. At last check, the French CAC 40 is up 0.9%, while the German DAX is enjoying a 0.5% lead. Elsewhere, London's FTSE 100 is fractionally lower, despite a drop in the country's unemployment rate.

Overseas markets

Unusual Put and Call Activity:

For an explanation of how to use this information, check out our Education Center topics on Option Volume and Open Interest Configurations.

Unusual options activity - puts

Unusual options activity - calls

 

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