A sharp decline in crude oil futures is weighing on the DJIA
With a speech from Fed Chair Janet Yellen
looming on the horizon,
the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is taking its bearish cues from crude oil. Specifically, stocks are under pressure as oil prices tank following a stiff 2.5-million-barrel jump in U.S. crude stockpiles, with October-dated oil futures last seen 3.3% lower at $46.53 per barrel. And while new home sales data bolstered stocks yesterday, this morning's existing home sales numbers showed a steeper-than-expected decline in July.
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Among the stocks with unusual call volume is Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX), with the contracts being exchanged at four times the usual intraday rate. Bullish bettors are busy with the shares up 1.8% at $57.43 on a legal win, and buy-to-open activity is detected at the September and November 57.50 calls.
One stock getting rocked on the New York Stock Exchange is La-Z-Boy Incorporated (NYSE:LZB). The shares are down 13.4% at $27.02, and on the short-sale restricted list, after the recliner designer reported weaker-than-expected earnings and revenue, as well as a sharp decline in same-store sales.
Even worse off on the Big Board is retailer Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR), fresh off an earnings miss and a downwardly revised full-year forecast. The stock has surrendered nearly one-quarter of its value at $12.08, and hit a two-year low of $11.89 earlier.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is up 0.8 point, or 6.5%, at 13.19.
Today's put/call volume ratio on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is 1.84, with puts nearly doubling calls. At last check, SPY is off 0.6 point, or 0.3%, at $218.41.
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