DuPont and oil are once again weighing on the DJIA
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is back in the red today, resuming last week's sharp sell-off. Oil is once again weighing on stocks, with January crude futures testing multi-year lows below $35 per barrel earlier in the session. Likewise, DuPont (NYSE:DD) is again the biggest blue-chip loser, with the shares down more than 4%, continuing Friday's M&A-related retreat. Against this backdrop -- and ahead of the biggest Fed meeting in years on Wednesday -- the S&P 500 Index (SPX) is struggling to maintain a foothold in the round-number 2,000 region, and the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is flirting with two-month highs.
Continue reading for more on today's market -- and don't miss:
Among the stocks with notable put activity is Apple supplier Cirrus Logic, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRUS). The stock is down 0.9% at $32.81, falling in sympathy with AAPL after Morgan Stanley said iPhone unit sales are expected to fall 6% next year. At last check, CRUS puts were crossing at seven times the average intraday pace, with possible buy-to-open action detected at the December 30 and 31 puts.
Among the biggest losers on the New York Stock Exchange is Sharpie maker Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE:NWL), after the firm agreed to buy Jarden Corp (NYSE:JAH) for $13.22 billion. NWL has dropped 9.3% to $41.08, after notching a decade-plus best of $50.90 just last week, and is testing support atop its 200-day moving average.
One of the biggest gainers on the Big Board is toymaker Mattel, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAT), thanks to a double dose of upbeat analyst attention. At midday, MAT has added 2.9% to sit at $27.01.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is up 2 points, or 8.3%, to sit at 26.41-- an area of historical significance.
Today's put/call volume ratio on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is 1.17, with puts slightly outnumbering calls. In fact, SPY call volume is running at 1.6 times the average intraday pace. SPY is down 0.9 point, or 0.5%, at 200.96.