Dow Jones Industrial Average Cautiously Higher as Fed Statement Looms

How to Trade a Fed Rate Hike

Josh Selway

Jul 29, 2015 at 8:43 AM

With the latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy decision just hours away, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are pointing to a positive open. The blue-chip barometer aims to hold yesterday's bullish momentum ahead of another slew of earnings, including second-quarter figures from social media titan Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB). At the same time, traders are considering today's sudden rebound in China, while awaiting pending home sales and crude inventories. It's also a big day for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), as Windows 10 makes its long-awaited debut.

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

2 sectors to watch as the Fed prepares for lift-off.
Is it time to ditch Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)? Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White looks at what happens when big-caps make big moves.
The buzz that sent BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) soaring.

And now, on to the numbers…

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Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) are 46.7 points above fair value.

Market Statistics

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 794,616 call contracts traded on Tuesday, compared to 495,239 put contracts. The resultant single-session equity put/call ratio moved down to 0.62, while the 21-day moving average slipped to 0.69.

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Currencies and Commodities

The U.S. dollar index is off 0.05% at 96.73.
Crude oil is down 0.5% at $47.72 per barrel.
Gold is off 0.05% at $1,096.10 per ounce.

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Earnings and Economic Data

Set for release are the pending home sales index and weekly crude inventories. The Fed will also announce its latest policy decision.

FB, MasterCard (MA), Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF), Anthem (ANTM), Apollo Global (APO), Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH), General Dynamics (GD), Goodyear Tire (GT), Hilton Worldwide (HLT), Humana (HUM), Huntsman (HUN), Kinross Gold (KGC), Level 3 Communications (LVLT), Lifelock (LOCK), Marriott International (MAR), Noble (NE), O'Reilly Automotive (ORLY), Shutterfly (SFLY), Skechers (SKX), SolarCity (SCTY), Tableau Software (DATA), Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX), Western Digital (WDC), and Whole Foods (WFM) will report earnings. To see what else is on this week's agenda, click here.

Overseas Trading

For a breakdown of today's trading in Asia and Europe, including the industrial giant that sank Japan's Nikkei, read Overseas Trading: Shanghai Composite Pops; Europe Wary Ahead of Fed.

Unusual Put and Call Activity

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