Wall Street is pulling back from its strong start to December
Despite a strong start to December, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is down 11 points at midday, after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell passed on a bipartisan proposal for a $908 billion stimulus package last night. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) are marginally lower as well, just a day after the two indexes logged record highs. Today's slip also comes despite the U.K. granting emergency authorization for Pfizer (PFE) and BioNTech's (BNTX) vaccine, and a fresh round of disappointing jobs data in the U.S.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Salesforce.com stock plunged following its big buyout.
- Bull notes roll out for Kohl's stock after partnering with Sephora.
- Plus, one cannabis stock with notable call activity; more on TG's dividend announcement; and why Veeva's earnings beat wasn't enough.
One stock seeing notable options activity today is Salesforce.com, Inc. (NYSE:CRM), after plans for the company's aforementioned buyout of Slack Technologies (WORK) was announced and priced at $27.7 billion. So far today, 217,000 calls and 92,00 puts have crossed the tape, 10 times the average intraday pace. Most popular is the weekly 12/4 220-strike call, where new positions are being opened. Year-to-date, CRM remains up 37%, and this afternoon was last seen down 7.6% at $223.94.
One stock surging on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today is Tredegar Corporation (NYSE:TG). TG was last seen up 24.1% to trade at $20.74, after the company announced a special dividend of $200 million or $5.97 per share. Today's rise has the equity trading near pre-pandemic levels, and has the stock up 39.5% for the quarter.
On the opposite end of the NYSE, Veeva Systems Inc (NYSE:VEEV) is down 7.2% to trade at $264.24, despite yesterday reporting third-quarter earnings and revenue that topped analysts' expectations. Yesterday, the equity rose above its 80-day moving average for the first time since Nov. 6. However, it's now facing pressure from the trendline today, and sports a 5% year-to-date deficit.