The DJIA is in the red again, after trading in China was halted for a second day
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is off triple digits yet again, following global markets lower after another brutal day of trading was halted in China. Oil is also in focus, as February-dated crude briefly dipped to a 12-year low this morning before rebounding. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite (COMP) is taking the hardest hit so far today, falling below the 4,800 level for the first time since October.
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Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) is among stocks with unusual option volume today. CVX calls are crossing the tape at twice their typical intraday volume, but most of the action appears to be one trader betting on a long-term ceiling, according to Trade-Alert. Specifically, it seems the speculator will pocket $1.25 million if CVX remains south of $110 through the next year, as the 10,000 block of sold January 2017 110-strike calls will expire worthless. CVX is still off 1.1% at $85.13.
While the broader market slumps, Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ:DVAX) is among a short list of big winners, adding 17.1% so far to trade at $24.80. The company reported encouraging results for its investigational hepatitis B vaccine, bouncing back from Wednesday's six-month low. The shares could be poised to move even higher should short sellers abandon their bearish positions.
Among the biggest losers on the Big Board today is solar energy interest Sunedison Inc (NYSE:SUNE), down 20.4% at $4.39 after announcing a $725 million second lien secured term loan. The stock recovered some ground after tapping a three-year low of $2.55 in November, but has been running into resistance at its declining 80-day moving average, and still has a long way to go to reclaim last year's high of $33.45. The shares have underperformed the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by 38 percentage points over the last three months.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is up 2.8 points, or 13.6%, at 23.38 -- the highest value seen in nearly four weeks.
Today's put/call volume ratio on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is 1.90, with puts outnumbering calls nearly 2-to-1. In fact, SPY intraday put volume is running at 1.6 times the average clip. SPY was last seen down 2.6 points, or 1.3%, at $196.27.