February 9, 2016 Market Wrap Up
It was a pretty dull day in the markets, given all the volatility we’ve seen lately. The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged. It appears that traders are waiting for tomorrow, as Janet Yellen takes the stage and addresses congress on the state of the economy.
Any chance of a potential rally was thwarted due to the weakness in energy prices. Crude Oil is at the lowest levels of the year. The cash market closed below 28, losing nearly 6% today. We’re down nearly 15% over the last four trading sessions.
Despite heavy selling pressure in oil and the equity market being relatively flat, the VIX didn’t really know where to go. When the smoked clear, it closed above 26.50, a gain of 2%.
On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Ziopharm Oncology (ZIOP). In addition, we saw heavy put buying in Fly Leasing Limited (FLY), about 5.6 times usual options volume.
Stocks in play included: Viacom (VIAB) -21%, Energy Transfer Equity (ETE) +14.5%, Deutsche Bank (DB) -.8%
As mentioned earlier, traders will be paying attention to FED Chairman Yellen as she testifies to Congress tomorrow.
Also, here’s what else is going on this week:
Key Economic Data:
11 February 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET
12 February 2016- Retail Sales 8:30 AM ET
Key Earnings:
10 February 2016- ARMH, TWX, EXPE, IRBT, TWTR, WFM, ZNGA, MYL, LOCK, FNF
11 February 2016- AVP, BTU, BWA, CAG, GNC, K, MOS, NOK, PEP, RIO, SHPG, TAP, TIME, WWAV, AIG, ATVI, CBS, CYBR, FEYE, GRPN, INFN, P, QLIK, RSG
Key Conferences:
8 February 2016- Credit Suisse Financial Services Forum (runs till 2/10)
9 February 2016- Bank America Merrill Insurance Conference (runs till 2/11), Goldman Sachs Tech Conf (runs till 2/11), Goldman Sachs Insurance Conf (runs till 2/11)
10 February 2016- Leerink Healthcare Conference (runs till 2/11)
11 February 2016- KBW Financial Conference (runs till 2/12)