Nasdaq Notches Record High; Dow Jones Industrial Average Drops As Dollar Soars

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is trading lower, as stocks fall after hawkish comments from a handful of Fed officials, including St. Louis Fed President James Bullard, as well as Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan, who expects some accommodation removed "in the near future." Kansas City Fed President Esther George, meanwhile, said she supports lifting interest rates, but the central bank has to "move more systematically." Elsewhere, traders are watching the Nasdaq Composite (COMP), which notched a new record intraday high before falling into the red, as well as soaring bond yields and the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), which is tapping 13-year highs.

• Rumor has it Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) could be gearing up to take on Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX).
• Analysts: The "cash burn likely to continue" for this solar stock.
• Checking in on the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), and other noteworthy stats at midday.

• Plus... a cloud comeback, the company going private, and an out-of-fashion retailer.

Among the stocks with unusual volume at midday is cloud stock salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM), after delivering an earnings win and upbeat outlook. CRM is currently up 3.5% at $77.84 so far today, with options crossing at six times their average intraday rate, and with calls outnumbering puts 43,000 to 39,000.

Infant formula stock Synutra International, Inc. (NASDAQ:SYUT) is among the top performers on the Nasdaq today, currently trading 16.9% higher at $5.28, after news that the company agreed to be taken private by Beams Power Investment Ltd, with each SYUT investor receiving $6.05 a share. SYUT is currently up 12.5% year-to-date, and has been enjoying the support of its 80-day moving average since September.

Retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) is among the worst performers on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today, currently down 13.4% at $14.66, and on the short-sale restricted list, following this morning's disappointing earnings report. Today's drop puts ANF down more than 45% year-to-date.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is down fractionally, 0.3%, at $13.31.

Today's put/call volume ratio on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is 1.36, with puts outnumbering calls. At last check, SPY was down 0.3%, or 0.6 point, at $218.41.

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