April 15, 2015 Market Wrap Up

The S&P 500 flexed its muscle today… closing the day higher and close to yearly highs. So far, the reactions to earnings have been relatively positive. Intel (INTC) was up over 4% and Netflix (NFLX) was up over 11% in the after-hours market.

In addition, we’re continuing to see strength in the energy sector. Crude oil futures have been up four straight trading sessions. We’re near the highest prices we’ve seen in nearly three months. A couple days ago, we saw a monster-sized option order in Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM), a trader came in and bought over 40k May 90 calls for $0.32. At one point, they were trading for around a $1.

Not too shabby for two days worth of work.

With the market turning bullish, it’s no surprise that volatility is getting sucked out of the market, the VIX dropped more than 6%, closing at 12.84.

On the options front, we saw bullish call buying in Dominos Pizza Inc (DPZ), Skechers (SKX), and CenterPoint Energy Inc (CNP). Bearish option bets were made in Kapstone Paper and Packaging Corporation (KS).

Moving forward, we’ve got to pay attention to the economic events as well the earnings announcements. Here’s what’s left this week:

Key Economic Data:
16 April 2015- Housing Starts 8:30 AM ET, Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, Philly Fed Business Outlook Survey 10:00 AM ET
17 April 2015- Consumer Price Index 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
16 April 2015- BLK, GS, C, PM, PPG, TSM, AXP, MAT, and SLB
17 April 2015- HON, GE, and STX