The Dow is on track for its sixth win in seven trading days
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is poised to finish the week strong, up almost 120 points at last check and on track for its sixth win in the last seven trading days. Thanks to inflation data that was not as drastic as expected, Wall Street is cheering the transitory positioning the market appears to be in right now. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) are confidently higher as well, with all three indexes on track for healthy weekly wins. Elsewhere, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) is on track for its third-straight loss and lowest close since April 16.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- This stock could be a prudent cryptocurrency play.
- Why call traders are blasting Ulta Beauty stock today.
- Plus, options bulls cheer Palantir's government deal; Reddit stock doubles in a week; and HP stock sitting out today's gains.
Data analytics company and Reddit darling Palantir Technologies Inc (NYSE:PLTR) is seeing an uptick in options activity today, specifically on the bullish side of the aisle. So far, over 572,000 calls have been exchanged, five times the intraday average and quintuple the number of puts traded. Most popular is the weekly 6/28 25-strike call, where new positions are being bought to open. The weekly 5/28 24-strike call is also generating notable interest today. At last check, Palantir stock was up 3.4% to trade at $23.47 after inking a $111 million U.S. defense contract. The shares' 80-day moving average is now in play for the first time since March.
Fellow Reddit stock is AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE:AMC) is one of the top performing stocks on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today. Last seen up 14.6% to trade at $30.64 and earlier touching a record high of $36.72, the movie theater stock and prime reopening play is riding social media and short squeeze tailwinds to a 151% gain in the last week alone.
Sitting out the broad market uptrend today is HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ), down 8.2% to trade at $29.42. While the tech icon reported a top-line beat and raised its full-year guidance, warnings of a chip shortage potentially impacting supply are weighing on the stock. Nevertheless, three brokerages have issued price-target hikes, the highest coming from J.P. Morgan Securities, to $38 from $36. No stranger to bull notes this week, HPQ is up 19% in 2021.