The big banks are leading a major market pullback
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) has turned lower, as a sharp reversal in big bank shares weighs on the broader stock market. In fact, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) is now the worst performing blue chip, down 2.5%, after this morning's earnings release. Renewed trade war fears may also be to blame for the pullback, following a Wall Street Journal story saying the Trump administration is planning yet another round of tariffs on China, while a larger-than-expected drop in the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index could also be weighing on investor appetite. But like the Dow, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) remain on well on pace for impressive weekly wins.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- The Elon Musk tweet everyone's talking about.
- Analyst names lagging pharma stock as a top pick.
- Plus, puts stay popular on one travel stock; small-cap Pulse Biosciences rallies; and Dropbox gets nailed.
One name seeing unusual options activity
is Ctrip.com International Ltd (NASDAQ:CTRP). Put volume is running at three times the expected pace today, thanks to what looks like heavy selling at the June 43 put. On the other hand, new positions are being opened at the May 41 put, as well as the front-month April 45 put. CTRP puts were extremely popular coming into today, too, based on the stock's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 2.16 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which ranks in the 96th annual percentile. The shares of the travel name were last seen trading down 2.9% at $44.05.
One of the top performers on the Nasdaq is small-cap Pulse Biosciences Inc (NASDAQ:PLSE), after the company's nano-pulse stimulation (NPS) treatment showed promise for treating a skin disorder in a trial. PLSE stock is trading up 17.4% at $21.34, looking for its highest close since January. The shares burst onto the scene around this time last year, eventually topping out at $39.50 in June.
Meanwhile, Wall Street newcomer Dropbox Inc. (NASDAQ:DBX) is sliding, last seen 7.3% lower at $30.84, due to a bearish note out of Nomura Instinet. The brokerage firm initiated coverage on the storage expert with a "reduce" rating and $21 price target. The lowest DBX has traded since going public back on March 23 is $27.75.