Dow Jones Industrial Average Strong Ahead of Fed Statement

The Buying Opportunity We Haven't Seen Since the Financial Crisis

Josh Selway

Jun 17, 2015 at 8:37 AM

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are pointed higher this morning, ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) statement on the economy this afternoon. More specifically, Fed Chair Janet Yellen will hold a press conference around 2:30 p.m. ET. Domestic stocks appear ready to carry over yesterday's positive momentum -- despite a lack of progress in negotiations on Greece's debt situation, as the European Central Bank (ECB) will now meet to discuss emergency funding for the country.

Continue reading for more on today's market, including:

Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White identifies a buying signal that just flashed for the first time since March 2009.
Fitbit (FIT) will price its IPO today, but it's not the only company going public soon.
These 3 penny stocks might not be "cheap" for long.

And now, on to the numbers…

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are 41.5 points above fair value.

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Market Statistics

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 696,396 call contracts traded on Tuesday, compared to 447,488 put contracts. The resultant single-session equity put/call ratio edged down to 0.64, while the 21-day moving average moved up to 0.62.

Currencies and Commodities

The U.S. dollar index has given back 0.2% to hit 94.86.
Crude oil is gaining, up 1.7% at $61.48 per barrel.
Gold is down 0.2% at $1,178.60 per ounce.

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Earnings and Economic Data

The news slate ramps up today, starting with the regularly scheduled crude inventories report. All eyes will be on the Fed, though, as the FOMC will emerge at 2 p.m. ET, followed by Chair Janet Yellen's press conference and the central bank's latest economic forecast. Before the bell, FedEx (NYSE:FDX) will release earnings; Jabil Circuit (NYSE:JBL), Pier 1 Imports (NYSE:PIR), and Oracle (NASDAQ:ORCL) will jump into the earnings fray after the closing bell sounds. To see what else is on this week's agenda, click here.

Overseas Trading

Asian stocks had by far their best day of the week, as bourses finished mostly higher. Chinese stocks were led by banking names, with the Shanghai Composite adding on 1.7%. The Hang Seng closed 0.7% higher as legislators weighed in on a new electoral reform plan. In South Korea, the Kospi bounced from the nearly three-month lows it saw yesterday to gain 0.3%, while the Nikkei edged 0.2% lower on downbeat trade data.

Stocks in Europe aren't seeing the same turnaround, with the FOMC's imminent decision and an ECB meeting to review emergency funding for Greece keeping traders cautious. France's CAC 40 has given back 0.9%, with London's FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX dropping 0.6% and 0.5%, respectively.

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Unusual Put and Call Activity

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