The major indexes suffered their biggest one-day drops since October
It was an abysmal day for stocks, with all three major indexes languishing in the red before logging dramatic losses. In fact, the Dow suffered its worst day since October, shedding over 630 points. A disappointing quarterly report from Boeing (BA) was partly to blame, though ramped up speculative trading on heavily shorted stocks also had many on Wall Street pushing the panic button. Meanwhile, the market's "fear gauge" -- the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) -- hit its highest settlement since late October, and saw its biggest single-day pop since 2018.
Similarly, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite also suffered their biggest one-day drops since October. The highly expected decision from the Federal Reserve to hold interest rates near zero also grabbed headlines, though traders are now shifting their focus to another round of earnings from the likes of Apple (AAPL), Facebook (FB) and Tesla (TSLA), all due after the close.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- The travel stock for option bulls to pick up on the dip.
- Why faltering Freeport-McMoRan stock is primed for a big bounce.
- Plus, AT&T stock brushes off broad-market headwinds; Starbucks stock draws bullish attention post-earnings; and unpacking Ford stock's rally.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 30,303.17) fell 633.9 points, or 2.1% for the day. 3M (MMM) led the gainers with a 6.1% pop, while Boeing (BA) fell to the bottom of the index with a nearly 4% dip.
Meanwhile, the S&P 500 Index (SPX - 3,750.77) settled 98.9 points, or 2.6% lower, while the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC - 13,270.60) shed 355.5 points, or 2.6%.
Lastly, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 37.21) tacked on 14.2 points, or 61.6% for the day.
- Social Capital CEO and former Facebook (FB) executive Chamath Palihapitiy closed out his position in GameStop (GME), after buying $125,000 worth o options. (CNBC)
- Alphabet (GOOGL) suspended New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani on YouTube for repeatedly violating the platform's election misinformation policies. (MarketWatch)
- Option bulls blasted AT&T stock after earnings, despite lawsuit drama.
- Checking in with Starbucks stock after its fiscal first-quarter report.
- Is Ford stock's rally in danger of slowing down ahead of earnings?
Gold Suffers Fifth-Straight Drop, Oil Prices Rise
Gold prices kept sliding today for a fifth-straight session, weakened by strength in the U.S. dollar as investors looked toward the Fed's monetary policy decision, which was released after the commodity settled. February-dated gold lost $6, or 0.3%, to finish at $1,844.90 per ounce.
Oil prices got a boost on Wednesday after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) posted a weekly decline of 9.9 million barrels in U.S. crude supplies. In turn, March-dated crude added 24 cents, or 0.5% for the day, to settle at $52.85 per barrel.