February 24, 2015 Market Recap

The S&P 500 closed at 2115.48.30, a record high, up nearly 6 points on the day. The news out of Greece is that they’ve committed to fiscal, economic, and financial stability measures. This brings hope that other nations like Spain and Portugal will follow in their footsteps.

Meanwhile, here in the states, Fed President, Janet Yellen, mentioned that they were unlikely to raise rates for a couple meetings.

Naturally, the market reacted positively to both sets of news pieces.

With that said, it appears that risk is back on, which was evident if you were observing the VIX. The VIX got destroyed again today, down nearly 6% and closing at 13.69.

Crude oil prices are below $50 per barrel, closing at $48.80 today. Traders are continuing to play long airlines and short the oil services sector.

On the options front, we continued to see bullish option flow in Walgreen Boots Alliance Inc, (WBA), the stock hit 52 week highs, closing at $80.39 a share. It appears that one trader closed out of their long March 20, $80 calls for a profit and established a new position by buying over 12,000 of the March 20, 2015 $81 calls for $1.55. Clearly, this is one to keep an eye out on.

Another interesting trade we saw in the options market today was in Cardinal Health Inc, (CAH), which saw 12.8 times usual options volume and the stock touching a 52 week high. We saw bullish call buying in the March and April contracts. Again, something else to keep on your watch list.

Notable earnings being released tomorrow include:
CVC, CHK, ECA, DLTR, HFC, MWE, SODA, STRZA

Reports that traders will be watching include:
New Home Sales

As of now, the market seems to be in panic buying mode. With many of the fears being washed away, it’s hard not to see the market continuing this trend.