All three major indexes are lower midday
Stocks are starting the week off lower, unable to build off of last week's impressive rally. The Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) is down triple digits at midday as the tech sector takes a breather, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) sit more modestly in the red.
Meanwhile, gold prices are inching higher and are holding at their highest levels since August. Investors are also unpacking comments from Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard, who told Bloomberg news “I think it will probably be appropriate soon to move to a slower pace of rate increases.”
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Struggling Amazon stock loses "best idea" status.
- Analysts can't get enough of this semiconductor stock.
- Plus, options bulls target MLCO; two biotech stocks moving in different directions.
Shoals Technologies Group Inc (NASDAQ:SHLS) is seeing a bearish options surge ahead of its third-quarter report, due out after the close today. So far, 7,792 puts and 564 calls have crossed the tape, with put volume running at 18 times the intraday average. The stock has been getting turned away at the $24 level, though its 200-day moving average has been offering support just above $18. Year-over-year, the stock is down 36.1%.
Opiant Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:OPNT) is at the top of the Nasdaq today, up 113.6% at $20.29 at last glance, after news that Indivior Inc, a subsidiary of Indivior PLC (INDV) has offered to buy the company in a deal valued at $28 per share. The merge is approved by both companies and is awaiting regulatory approval. Now trading at its highest level since May, the equity is still down 39.4% year-to-date.
Meanwhile, POINT Biopharma Global Inc (NASDAQ:PNT) is down 35.4% at $5.90 and on the short sell restricted (SSR) list, after news that the company has signed collaboration agreements with Lantheus Holdings (LNTH) for PNT2002 and PNT2003, its late-stage cancer therapy drug candidates. Year-to-date, PNTH is still up 6.7%.