Today's stocks to watch include Apple Inc. (AAPL), Trevana Inc (TRVN), and Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (CMG)
And we're off! The opening bell brought a fresh 300-point plunge for the Dow, thanks to a brand new round of disappointing economic news out of China. Among the equities in focus are electronics behemoth Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), pharmaceutical company Trevena Inc (NASDAQ:TRVN), and burrito baron Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG) .
- AAPL is down 1.3% at $111.30, after reports surfaced that the company may soon produce original content. Reportedly, Apple Inc. has met with Hollywood executives about producing original content to compete with Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) and Amazon.com, Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN). Unnamed sources told Variety that AAPL is planning to begin hiring for the project "in the coming months," and operations are set to start "within a year." Technically, AAPL is set to snap a four-day winning streak, and just closed beneath its 10-month moving average for the first time in two years. Option players are catching on to this underperformance, as the tech titan's 50-day put/call volume ratio on the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) checks in at an annual high of 0.74.
- TRVN is flying high this morning, adding 51% to sit at $9.05 -- and just off an all-time best of $9.10 -- after announcing positive results for its post-surgery pain treatment. Trevena Inc stated that its drug candidate TRV130 proved effective at treating moderate to severe pain in patients who had a "tummy tuck." This news prompted Cowen and Company to raise TRVN's target price to $14 from $13 -- a move followed by Webush, with a price-target elevation to $20 from $15, more than twice the stock's current perch. This morning's gap higher has the stock trading above past resistance in the $7-$7.50 region, which has provided a top rail to TRVN's recent trading channel.
- CMG is 1.1% lower at $701.93, after a California woman accused the chain of false advertising in regards to the restaurant's use of the ever-controversial genetically modified organisms (GMOs). On April 27, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. made waves by announcing that it was the first national restaurant to use only GMO-free ingredients. As the story notes, this plaintiff may be the same plaintiff who went after Bayer AG over the health benefits of its One A Day multivitamins. On the charts, CMG has found support in the $700 region, which is home to its 10-week moving average. Off the charts, short-term traders are more put-heavy than usual, as the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.39 stands in the 90th percentile of its annual range.
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