Analysts are weighing in tech stock Western Digital Corp (NASDAQ:WDC), real estate investment trust (REIT) Kimco Realty Corp (NYSE:KIM), and video game retailer GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on shares of WDC, KIM, and GME.Western Digital Stock Sees a Rare DowngradeWestern Digital is down 6.9% to trade at $86.33, after Morgan Stanley downgrad...Read More
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures are just barely north of fair value this morning, after closing out Thanksgiving week in the black. S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) futures are also muted, despite both benchmarks settling at record closing highs on Friday. Retail stocks continue to be in focus, as Black Friday online sales reportedly reached a record $5 billion -- and th...Read More
"...the SPX closed at 2,579.36 on Nov. 1 after the Fed's decision to hold interest rates steady, and a rally immediately followed -- but the round 2,600 century mark held the post-FOMC rally in check. After a decline near the 2,550 mark, the SPX comes into this week trading back around its Nov. 1 close of 2,579."Headlines and rumors related to tax cuts may move the market one way or the other on a...Read More
The S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) both managed record highs today, even though trading action was muted in the shortened session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) also had a strong day, as Wall Street digested mostly upbeat headlines about Black Friday shopping. A number of retail stocks outperformed as a result -- including Amazon (AMZN), which hit record highs thanks to...Read More
With Black Friday retail sales events in full swing, mega-retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT) is attracting attention from options traders. Today's call volume of 24,000 contracts represents about 150% of the stock's intraday norm, and a decent portion of the day's action consists of short-term call spreads.Not long after the opening bell, data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE)...Read More
United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS) is making headlines today, after reports surfaced late Wednesday the shipping giant had acquired a manufacturing pharmacy license in the state of Georgia. UPS was trading down 0.2% at $113.52 at last check. Below, we will take a look atthe sentiment surrounding United Parcel stock both in and out of the options pits.Taking a quick look at the charts, UPS stoc...Read More
Hologic, Inc. (NASDAQ:HOLX) said it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Quantra 2.2 breast density assessment software -- used in breast cancer screenings. Despite an initial uptick at the open, HOLX stock is failing to capitalize on the news, last seen fractionally lower at $40.87. As the shares continue to struggle at a key technical juncture, s...Read More
Dow stock Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) made headlines before the holiday break, after Saudi Arabia agreed to buy $7 billion worth of military equipment and weaponry from multiple U.S. contractors, including Boeing. Below, we will check in with BA to see how the aerospace stock has been faring, and how options traders have reacted to the news.Boeing stock is currently up 0.3% to trade at $265.91, flirti...Read More
There were lower-than-normal trading volumes across Wall Street this week due to Thanksgiving, but stocks pushed to record highs nonetheless. Many of the gains came on Tuesday, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Nasdaq Composite (IXIC), and S&P 500 Index (SPX) all soared to record highs thanks to a strong round of corporate earnings. The Dow is now set to avoid a rare third-straight wee...Read More
U.S. stocks are trading higher after yesterday's holiday break, with retail stocks being the main focus of the market. Three stocks making moves today are drug concern Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (NYSE:TEVA), "Russian Google" Yandex N.V. (NASDAQ:YNDX), and biopharmaceutical concern Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR). Here's a closer look at what's moving shares of TEVA, YNDX, and NKTR.TEVA...Read More
Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) futures are pointed higher this morning, after settling modestly lowerin a low-volume session on Wednesday. S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) futures are also trading above fair value, with all three benchmarks on track to post weekly wins. Retail stocks are in focus on this shortened trading day, as the holiday shopping frenzy engulfs investors. R...Read More
Analysts are weighing in on farming machinery concern Deere & Company (NYSE:DE), healthcare stock Quest Diagnostics Inc (NYSE:DGX), and oil shipping expert Frontline Ltd. (NYSE:FRO). Here's what's moving shares of DE, DGX, and FRO. Deere Stock Gets Post-Earnings UpgradeDeutsche Bank this morning upgraded Deere stock to "buy" from "hold," and raised its price target to $167 from $149. The move com...Read More
The following is a reprint of the market commentary from the December 2017 edition of The Option Advisor, published on November 17. For more information, or to subscribe to The Option Advisor -- featuring 10 new option trades each month -- visit our online store.By now, just about every major financial media outlet has published an article questioning how much longer General Electric (GE) can c...Read More
Wilshire 5000 divided by US GDPSource: Thomson Reuters Datastream; BMG Group Inc.Read More
The Federal Reserve has become an increasingly powerful force in the stock market, as our Senior V.P. of Research Todd Salamone has documented in his weekly Monday Morning Outlook column. With another Fed policy decision approaching in December, along with a changing of the guard at the central bank, now is a good time to review some Fed basics.What is the Fed?The Federal Reserve is the U.S. centr...Read More
There's a trendline battle shaping up on a daily chart of the Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bear 3X Shares (DUST) -- an exchange-traded fund (ETF) meant to deliver a triple-leveraged inverse return of a basket of gold mining stocks. While the descending 160-day moving average has kept a tight lid on all rally attempts since early May, DUST has recently established a credible foothold above its rising...Read More
The Federal Reserve will be in focus next week, with an onslaught of central bank officials slated to speak in the lead-up to the mid-December Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. With expectations running high that the Fed will pull the trigger on a December rate hike, the preliminary reading on third-quarter gross domestic product (GPD) should draw its fair share of Wall Street's attent...Read More
The comments above & below is an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Bill BlainThe ever-rising global stock markets don't matter; the truth is in bond markets. That's where the dam will break. The bond markets are the bubble to watch, starting with high yield.It wasn't just banks that benefited from too-big-to-fail; most collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) did, too. The 2008 global fi...Read More
The comments above & below is an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Olivier GarretHaving seen the astounding rise in Bitcoin's value, those who remained on the sidelines are now kicking themselves for not buying it when it was first released. Surely they'd be millionaires by now.But is the meteoric rise of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies really an indication of true value?It seems th...Read More
The comments above & below is an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by Jeff ClarkWhen the economy skids into a recession most investors end up riding shotgun right along with it, and that means big losses for stock portfolios.Cycling through ups and downs, the economy overheats and growth slows, which affects company earnings and pushes stocks down.An allocation to bonds hardly makes up fo...Read More