The S&P and Nasdaq are also assailing new heights
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is higher at midday, after setting a fresh intraday record out of the gate this morning. The Dow is on track for its fourth straight record close, as well as its biggest weekly gain since December. The market is seemingly shrugging off subpar retail sales and North Korea's latest missile strike, as well as the first monthly decline in industrial output since January. Meanwhile, thanks to a rally in tech stocks, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (COMP) are also higher after hitting all-time peaks, with the former pacing for its best week since April.
Continue reading for more on today's market -- and don't miss:
- This chip stock could surge more than 40%, according to analysts.
- J.P. Morgan Securities gutted these 3 airline stocks.
- Plus, call buying heats up on First Solar; a retail stock's rebound; and FIT stock losing steam.
Among the stocks with unusual options volume is alternative energy issue
First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR), with nearly 14,000 calls traded -- seven times the average intraday volume, and pacing for the 98th percentile of its annual range. The soon-to-expire September 50 call and weekly 9/22 56- and 54- strike calls are attracting the most attention, with over 1,400 contracts exchanged apiece.
FSLR stock is trading higher today, up 6.2% at $51.08 -- and just off an annual high of $51.84 -- thanks to upbeat analyst attention.
Macy's (NYSE:M) is up 2% at $22.41, and has rallied roughly 16% since touching a seven-year low of $19.32 on Aug. 21. What's more, the retailer's recent rally has the shares poised to conquer their 80-day moving average for just the second time since December. Last night, Macy's said it will increase its holiday workforce by 80,000 -- a drop of 3,000 from last year.
Fitbit Inc (NYSE:FIT) is among the losers on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today, down 3.8% at $6.62, as the stock loses steam after reaching a nearly nine-month high yesterday. The stock is running into a speed bump in the $7 area -- where the shares were trading before a January bear gap -- but weren't too shaken up after this week's news of a new
Apple Watch.