The DJIA is once again up triple digits, thanks to soaring crude, upbeat economic data, and stimulus chatter from overseas
Stocks went soaring out of the gate this morning, and are still enjoying significant leads, despite paring a portion of their earlier gains. At last check, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was up triple digits -- and winking at the 16,000 mark -- while the S&P 500 Index (SPX) was hovering around the 1,900 level. The Nasdaq Composite (COMP), meanwhile, was outpacing them all, surging nearly 2%. As such, the indexes are striving for their first weekly gain of 2016.
Crude is once again stoking the risk-on backdrop, with March-dated futures jumping 7% to $31.60 per barrel. A record monthly rise in existing home sales, as well as more stimulus chatter from overseas, is only fanning the bullish flames.
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Among the stocks with unusual option volume today is
American Express Company (NYSE:AXP), with the contracts crossing at 10 times the average intraday pace. A disappointing earnings report and
subsequent round of bearish brokerage attention has sent shares of the credit card concern tumbling 12.6% to $54.73 -- and fresh off a three-year low of $54.14. With the stock on the short-sale restricted list, puts are especially popular, with eleventh-hour positions being initiated at AXP's weekly 1/22 55-strike put.
It's another big day for energy name Kinder Morgan Inc (NYSE:KMI), with the shares last seen up 8.8% at $15.12 -- one of the biggest percentage gainers on the S&P 500 Index. The stock jumped 15.6% yesterday, as a big bounce in oil and cost-cutting plans overshadowed disappointing earnings and downbeat analyst notes. The equity is now on pace to post a 16% weekly win, and settle the week above $15 for the first time this year.
Freeport-McMoRan Inc (NYSE:FCX), meanwhile, is one of the biggest decliners on the SPX -- down 10.6% at $3.87. Pressuring the shares is news that the company's Indonesian mine must put an additional $530 million into escrow in order to begin exporting copper out of the country. Additionally, Citigroup followed in the recent footsteps of UBS, cutting its price-target on FCX to $4.50 from $8.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) has plunged 11.1% to 23.72.
Today's put/call volume ratio on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is 1.02, with puts and calls running in near parity. SPY is up 1.3% at $189.11 -- and holding this crucial level.