The S&P 500 was relatively flat today on below average volume. That’s kind of surprising given that we’re starting to see a lot of earnings come in. Before the US market opened the news out of the ECB was that they were leaving key interest rates unchanged.

In the after hours we got earnings out of Microsoft (MSFT), which topped 1Q profit forecasts and traded 5% higher. In addition, Paypal (PYPL) also traded higher due to strong revenue numbers.

Stocks in play today included: NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) +4.18%, Varian Medical Systems (VAR) +3.28%, Dragonwave (DRWI) +94.5%, and Time Warner (TWX) +5%

The VIX sold off more than 4.5% and closed at 13.75.

Crude oil futures prices sold off about 2.3% today, but still closed above $50 per barrel.

On the options front, we saw large call buying activity in Iamgold Williams Sonoma (WSM), which traded 8 times normal option volume. In addition, we saw heavy put buying in Infosys (INFY), which saw 3.4 times normal options volume.

Here’s what’s on tap for tomorrow:

Key Economic Data:
20 Oct 2016- Jobless Claims 8:30 AM ET, Philly Fed Business Outlook Survey 8:30 AM ET, Existing Home Sales 10:00 AM ET

Key Earnings:
21 Oct 2016- GE, HON, IPG, MCD, SYF, SAP, STI, MAN

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