A majority of FAANG stocks have fallen at least 1%
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is up over 200 points at midday, after hovering just above fair value this morning, thanks to shares of JPMorgan Chase (JPM) surging on the heels of an earnings beat. Conversely, the S&P 500 (SPX) is just hanging onto positive territory, and the Nasdaq Composite (NDX) is struggling, as the broader market suffers alongside losses in the tech sector -- specifically, FAANG stocks are almost all off around 1%.
Meanwhile, news of possible suppression targeting businesses in order to curb COVID-19 cases in California and other states led oil prices down in early trading. At last check, crude for August delivery is up 0.6% at $40.35 per barrel.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- First Solar stock could benefit the election year.
- HBI is rising on a bull note.
- Plus, STMicroelectronic calls are hot; INMB is one of the Nasdaq's best performers; and Equillium stock is plummeting.
STMicroelectronics NV (NYSE:STM) is seeing an astounding amount of activity in its options pits today, with 42,000 calls crossing the tape so far -- 44 times the intraday average -- compared to just 139 puts. The most popular is the August 35 call, followed by the 30 call in the same series. Still, at last check, the stock is down 0.1% at $28.28, but up 57.2% year-over-year.
Clinical-stage pharmaceutical immunotherapy name INmume Bio Inc (NASDAQ:INMB) is one of the best performers on the Nasdaq this morning, after data showed that one of its treatments reduced neuroinflammation in patients with Alzheimer's disease. INMB is up 128.7% at $21.18 at last check, now boasting a staggering year-to-date lead of 215%, all while set to close above its 320-day moving average for the third day in a row.
On the other end of the spectrum, one of the worst performers on the Nasdaq is Equillium Inc (NASDAQ:EQ), after the biotech company announced it's filing for a stock offering of $150 million, according to the Security Exchange Commission (SEC). Meanwhile, Wainwright hiked it price target to $24 from $14, after the stock peaked at an all-time high of $27.05 yesterday. Still, the shares of EQ are down 41.4% at $15.53, at last check.