The DJIA is trading lower for the second straight, as traders digest a flurry of political developments
After a short trek into positive territory, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is trading back below breakeven. Stocks are reacting to a broad sell-off in the healthcare sector, after House Republicans introduced their Obamacare replacement plan, and President Donald Trump took to Twitter to weigh in on drug prices. While the Dow fights to avoid its first back-to-back loss since late January, the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) and the S&P 500 Index (SPX) are also in the red.
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- Plus, Texas Instruments explodes, the biotech that's tripled since December, and Dick's suffers post-earnings.
Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ:TXN) is storming up the charts, hitting another 16-year high of $80.37, last seen 1.9% higher at $79.76. In the options pits, volume is extremely accelerated -- with 26,000 contracts on the tape, eight times the average intraday pace -- thanks to two symmetrical 10,000-contract blocks of April 77.50 calls and puts that were simultaneously initiated earlier. While it's not clear at the moment, it's possible one trader opened either a synthetic long or a long straddle in the back-month series.
Despite the sector headwinds, biotech Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AUPH) is again making a big move on the Nasdaq, last seen 16.4% higher at $6.24, as Wall Street continues to dissect the company's Lupus treatment results from late last week. The shares earlier hit a five-year high of $6.55, and have now more than tripled in value since their December low.
Over on the Big Board, Dick's Sporting Goods Inc (NYSE:DKS) is falling, after the company delivered a weaker-than-expected current-quarter forecast. The stock was last seen 8.7% lower at $48.02, and short sellers have to be cheering. DKS shares have shed 23% since their December peak at $62.80.
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