February 18, 2015 Market Wrap

It was a rather slow and boring trading in the equity markets. The S&P 500 closed at 2099.68, down less than a point. Interestingly, we had the FED minutes announced late in the afternoon, however, it lacked any type of fireworks. In the minutes, they cited risk in Greece, Ukraine, a strengthening dollar and slow wage growth as reasons not to rush into raising interest rates.

In Europe, talks between Greece and the rest of the Eurogroup remain tense. As of now, a resolution seems far away. With that said, the potential for Greece to leave the Euro is very much in the cards.

Given the slow movement today, it wasn’t surprising to see the VIX sell off, closing at 15.45, down 2.2%

The crude oil market took a dive today, closing down over 5%, at $50.42 per barrel. Traders have been going long airline stocks whenever we’ve seen this type of weakness.

We had 185 stocks that 52 week price highs and 20 stocks that had 52 week price lows today.

Notable bullish option activity today was seen in: NEE, SO, TS, ADTN, and JRJC
Notable bearish option activity today was seen in: MTN, INFA, and BDSI

Some stocks that were in the news today included Exxon and Zillow. It was reported that Exxon had a fire in one of their refineries in California. The stock closed the day down 2% Now, in respect to Zillow, the stock caught a bid after their merger conference call with analysts today. Apparently the street is fond of their merger with Trulia, as Zillow closed the day up nearly 15%

Notable earnings released tonight included: SUNE -3.68%, SCTY -3.92% (after hours)

Notable earnings the rest of the week include: JWN, PCLN, TMUS, TRUE, VNDA, WMT, COG, DE, FNMA, IRM,

On the economic front, traders will be looking at these reports:

• Thursday, February 19, 2015: Jobless Claims, Philadelphia Fed Survey