The DJIA was off 122 points earlier as crude futures took another turn south
Following last week's strong finish, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is attempting to recover from an early triple-digit loss, sparked by fresh weakness in oil prices -- with March crude futures last seen 4.5% lower at $30.75 per barrel. Dow component Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) is also leading the index south in the wake of a bearish Goldman Sachs note. CAT's loss of more than 4% is offsetting post-earnings gains and a record high at fellow blue chip McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD). Elsewhere, the Dallas Fed manufacturing survey tanked to its lowest level since April 2009, with the Texas economy crippled by energy weakness.
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Among the stocks with unusual put volume today is tech firm
NCR Corporation (NYSE:NCR), with the contracts trading at 13 times the expected intraday rate. The most active strike is the out-of-the-money March 17 put, which may be seeing
buy-to-open activity. At last check, NCR is 2.1% higher at $20.96.
The biggest loser on the Nasdaq is drugmaker Oncomed Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:OMED), following a downbeat drug update, as well as a downgrade to "market perform" and a price-target cut to $11 at Leerink. At last check, the shares have plunged almost 46% to trade at $9.54, and are fresh off a record low of $9.15.
One of the noteworthy winners on the Big Board is precious metals producer Barrick Gold Corporation (USA) (NYSE:ABX), up 6.2% at $9.11. Strength in gold futures continues to boost the commodity stock, amid a weaker dollar and global economic worries.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is up 0.8 point, or 3.5%, at 23.13.
Today's put/call volume ratio on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is 1.49, with puts easily outstripping calls. At last check, SPY is off 1.5 points, or 0.8%, at $189.00.