Amazon is under fire after Trump attacks the retailer on taxes again
U.S. stocks are on track for a win -- for the fourth session in a row -- following retail earnings, and ahead of the minutes from July's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. Rumored takeover target Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (NYSE:FCAU), online retailer Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), and drug concern Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY) are three stocks in the news this morning. Here's a quick look at what's moving shares of FCAU, AMZN, and BMY.
Fiat Bands Together with BMW and Intel
After emerging as the subject of
buyout speculation earlier this week, Fiat is back in headlines. China's Geely Automobile Holdings has denied interest in acquiring FCAU, which just this morning partnered with BMW, Intel (INTC), and Mobileye (MBLY) in an alliance to develop self-driving cars. FCAU is up 1.3% at $12.83, just off the record high of $12.91 set on Tuesday.
Amid FCAU's impressive uptrend, traders have been gravitating toward bullish bets, as evidenced by the stock's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 4.59 across the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). This ratio ranks in the 76th annual percentile, confirming a stronger-than-usual skew toward calls over puts in recent weeks.
Trump Takes Aim at AMZN
Amazon shares are down after President Trump tweeted about the FAANG stock, claiming they are causing "great damage to tax paying retailers." AMZN has been collecting state sales taxes across the U.S. since April 1 of this year, though it's unclear how many of the company's third-party sellers are doing so.
After a long uptrend that culminated in a record high of $1,083.31 on July 27, AMZN recently pulled back to its 100-day moving average -- a former layer of resistance back in late 2016. At last check, the stock was trading down 0.9%, at $973.67. Despite persistent criticism from Trump dating back to his days on the campaign trail, analysts following Amazon are optimistic, with 24 out of 29 carrying "buy" or "strong buy" recommendations.
BMY Slumps on Drug Trial Disappointment
BMY stock is trading lower by 1.1% at $57.25, after the drug company reported that its Opdivo-Yervoy drug combination failed to meet the primary goal of a late-stage renal cancer trial. From a broader perspective, BMY shares are down roughly 2% year-over-year, and have struggled throughout 2017 to move into positive ground on a year-to-date basis.
Despite the uninspiring price action, Bristol-Myers sports a
Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.51, which ranks in the 7th percentile of all other ratios in the past 12 months. This indicates that near-term options traders have rarely been more call-heavy during the past year.