The S&P 500 closed the day lower, making it the third straight losing session. Earnings continues to dominate the headlines. Thus far, earnings have been relatively mixed, giving some traders the belief that we might be in for a rate hike possibly in the NOV or DEC FOMC meeting.

In the after hours we got earnings out of Amazon (AMZN), which posted much smaller than anticipated profits. In addition, Alphabet (GOOG), topped the Street’s 3Q forecasts.

Stocks in play today included: Community Health Systems (CYH) -50%, GNC Holdings (GNC) -25%, Ocwen Financial (OCN) +16.5%, and Level 3 Communications (LVLT) +10.4%

The VIX sold gained nearly 9%, closing the day above 15, at 15.36.

Crude oil futures prices bounced a little bit, snapping a 3-day losing streak and gaining nearly 1% on the day.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Iconix Brand (ICON), which traded 6.4 times normal option volume. In addition, we saw heavy put buying in Osiris Therapeutics (OSIR), which saw 9.8 times normal options volume.

Here’s what’s on tap for tomorrow:

Key Earnings:
28 Oct 2016- ABBV, AN, CVX, CBOE, HSY, MA, NWL, PSX, SNY, SHPG, TEN, WY, XOM, XRX, SIMO

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