GS and AAPL stocks are trading lower today, though
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is up triple digits at midday, with an analyst-induced jump for Boeing (BA) helping to overshadow a post-earnings dip for Goldman Sachs (GS) and a downgrade for Apple stock. Tech is outperforming again -- with Intel (INTC) the best Dow stock so far -- and is a big reason the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) are also sporting big gains, with the indexes looking to avoid another sharp market reversal.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- The popular market indicator calling for a big February, courtesy of Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White.
- 2 hot retail stocks with attractive options.
- Plus, GoPro options active; today's big M&A news; and Exact Sciences nosedives.
Among the stocks with unusual options volume is GoPro Inc (NASDAQ:GPRO). The stock is trading 0.2% higher at $6.37, pushing higher from its Jan. 8 bottom near $5. Volume is about evenly split between calls and puts, which are trading at around five times their expected intraday pace thanks to some notable spread activity. One of the top trades involved 4,000 July 6 calls and puts, where premium from the puts may have been used for the call purchase to possibly initiate a synthetic long.
Juno Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:JUNO) is one of the best Nasdaq stocks today thanks to the Celgene buyout rumors. It's trading up a whopping 47% at $67.01, and earlier topped out at $70 -- an all-time high. And just for good measure, Wedbush rushed in this morning to raise its price target on JUNO stock to $70 from $64.
One of the worst on the New York Stock Exchange is molecular diagnostics concern EXACT Sciences Corporation (NASDAQ:EXAS). The shares are trading down 9.5% at $47.94 -- and are on the short-sale restricted list. There's no apparent news sparking the sell-off, which has resulted in EXAS stock falling sharply below support at the 80-day moving average.
