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U.S. stock market report 1701 ET 23Oct2009 Volatility index ends at best levels for week
The CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's favorite barometer of investor sentiment, rose 7.64 percent to 22.27, its best levels of the week as U.S. stocks fell. Prior to Friday, the so-called VIX was down 12 out of the past 14 sessions. Its sister technology index, the Nasdaq Volatility Index , gained 4.82 percent to 22.62 after dipping to its lowest levels since May 2008 on Thursday. The VIX, a 30-day risk forecast priced off of S&P 500 options, often rises when investors bid up options to manage their market risk.
'It seems that we are beginning to see more wider daily swings in the broader market. That would explain the volatility indexes moving a bit higher on Friday,' said WhatsTrading.com option strategist Frederic Ruffy.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1440 ET 23Oct2009
Dow Transports flash a bearish pattern
The Dow Jones transportation average on Friday broke below its 50-day moving average, marking a significant technical breach that may portend more losses for the broader market.
It is the third time that the index has fallen through this key metric since the broader market's aborted correction in early July. According to CitiFX Technicals, a close in the DJT below 3,851 will signal a 'bearish weekly reversal.'
The index has posted only five weekly reversals in the past two years.
The last one was in September 2008, a breach that was subsequently followed by a 59 percent fall into the March 2009 lows. The DJT is considered a harbinger of market direction and also depicts investors' perceptions of the economic outlook.
According to the Dow Theory, the market is in an uptrend if either the industrial average or transportation indexes advance above previous important highs or are accompanied by or followed by a similar climb in the other.
The DJT was down 3.4 percent at 3,807.58 in Friday afternoon trading, and showed a loss of 5 percent on the week.
Reuters Messaging rm://ellis.mnyandu.reuters.com@reuters.net
1336 ET 23Oct2009-FUND VIEW-Hartford's Froehlich sees 10 pct yr
end rally
The U.S. stock market could rise another 10 percent by the end of this year, as investors focus on the latest evidence of the economic recovery and the realization that a market pullback is not imminent, a prominent strategist said.
Hartford Financial Services Group senior managing director Robert Froehlich said surprising strength in companies' third-quarter revenue underscored the economy's stabilization and showed that prospects for profits were looking up.
For more please double click
Reuters Messaging: ellis.mnyandu.reuters.com@reuters.net
1248 ET 23Oct2009
IEA: Oil spike could hurt economic recovery
A rapid rise in oil prices could hamper the global economic recovery, the executive director of the International Energy Agency said on Thursday, but added it was too early to say if that scenario was unfolding now.
'If the movement is too rapid, a spike in prices, it could have a very negative impact on the world economic recovery,' Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the IEA, told Reuters in Quintero, Chile.
IEA estimates world oil demand would increase by 1.42 million barrels per day in 2010 compared with 2009.
For details, see
December crude futures fell 0.2 percent to $81.07 per barrel on Friday.
Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1234 ET 23Oct2009
Biogen, Elan down on new review of Tysabri
Shares of Biogen Idec and Elan Corp fell on Friday, after European regulators said they had begun a review of the pair's multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri.
The review follows reports of 23 cases of a potentially deadly brain infection.
For details, see
Biogen was down 5.4 percent to $44.69 while Elan plummeted 20 percent to $5.18 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1218 ET 23Oct2009
Microsoft strong results stirs call buying
Traders exchanged about 366,000 call options in Microsoft Corp, five times its average daily volume and three times the number of its put options, according to Trade Alert.
Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, reported quarterly results that smashed Wall Street expectations, sending its shares up 8 percent earlier in the session, the highest level in 16 months. The stock rose 7 percent to 28.45 after midday. About 45,000 calls were earlier purchased at the Nov $30 strike for an average premium of 35 cents per contract. Investors owning these calls expect shares to rise another 7 percent from the current share value of $28.47 by next month's expiration expiration -- a bullish sign for the tech bellwether, said Interactive Brokers Group equity options analyst Caitlin Duffy. Traders may also be banking gains on calls bought heading into weekend given the inflated premiums, she said. Others may be capturing the drop in the stock's option implied volatility.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net Keywords: MARKETS STOCKSNEWS
COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Real-time Equity news
U.S. stock market report 1701 ET 23Oct2009 Volatility index ends at best levels for week
The CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's favorite barometer of investor sentiment, rose 7.64 percent to 22.27, its best levels of the week as U.S. stocks fell. Prior to Friday, the so-called VIX was down 12 out of the past 14 sessions. Its sister technology index, the Nasdaq Volatility Index , gained 4.82 percent to 22.62 after dipping to its lowest levels since May 2008 on Thursday. The VIX, a 30-day risk forecast priced off of S&P 500 options, often rises when investors bid up options to manage their market risk.
'It seems that we are beginning to see more wider daily swings in the broader market. That would explain the volatility indexes moving a bit higher on Friday,' said WhatsTrading.com option strategist Frederic Ruffy.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1440 ET 23Oct2009
Dow Transports flash a bearish pattern
The Dow Jones transportation average on Friday broke below its 50-day moving average, marking a significant technical breach that may portend more losses for the broader market.
It is the third time that the index has fallen through this key metric since the broader market's aborted correction in early July. According to CitiFX Technicals, a close in the DJT below 3,851 will signal a 'bearish weekly reversal.'
The index has posted only five weekly reversals in the past two years.
The last one was in September 2008, a breach that was subsequently followed by a 59 percent fall into the March 2009 lows. The DJT is considered a harbinger of market direction and also depicts investors' perceptions of the economic outlook.
According to the Dow Theory, the market is in an uptrend if either the industrial average or transportation indexes advance above previous important highs or are accompanied by or followed by a similar climb in the other.
The DJT was down 3.4 percent at 3,807.58 in Friday afternoon trading, and showed a loss of 5 percent on the week.
Reuters Messaging rm://ellis.mnyandu.reuters.com@reuters.net
1336 ET 23Oct2009-FUND VIEW-Hartford's Froehlich sees 10 pct yr
end rally
The U.S. stock market could rise another 10 percent by the end of this year, as investors focus on the latest evidence of the economic recovery and the realization that a market pullback is not imminent, a prominent strategist said.
Hartford Financial Services Group senior managing director Robert Froehlich said surprising strength in companies' third-quarter revenue underscored the economy's stabilization and showed that prospects for profits were looking up.
For more please double click
Reuters Messaging: ellis.mnyandu.reuters.com@reuters.net
1248 ET 23Oct2009
IEA: Oil spike could hurt economic recovery
A rapid rise in oil prices could hamper the global economic recovery, the executive director of the International Energy Agency said on Thursday, but added it was too early to say if that scenario was unfolding now.
'If the movement is too rapid, a spike in prices, it could have a very negative impact on the world economic recovery,' Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the IEA, told Reuters in Quintero, Chile.
IEA estimates world oil demand would increase by 1.42 million barrels per day in 2010 compared with 2009.
For details, see
December crude futures fell 0.2 percent to $81.07 per barrel on Friday.
Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1234 ET 23Oct2009
Biogen, Elan down on new review of Tysabri
Shares of Biogen Idec and Elan Corp fell on Friday, after European regulators said they had begun a review of the pair's multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri.
The review follows reports of 23 cases of a potentially deadly brain infection.
For details, see
Biogen was down 5.4 percent to $44.69 while Elan plummeted 20 percent to $5.18 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1218 ET 23Oct2009
Microsoft strong results stirs call buying
Traders exchanged about 366,000 call options in Microsoft Corp, five times its average daily volume and three times the number of its put options, according to Trade Alert.
Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, reported quarterly results that smashed Wall Street expectations, sending its shares up 8 percent earlier in the session, the highest level in 16 months. The stock rose 7 percent to 28.45 after midday. About 45,000 calls were earlier purchased at the Nov $30 strike for an average premium of 35 cents per contract. Investors owning these calls expect shares to rise another 7 percent from the current share value of $28.47 by next month's expiration expiration -- a bullish sign for the tech bellwether, said Interactive Brokers Group equity options analyst Caitlin Duffy. Traders may also be banking gains on calls bought heading into weekend given the inflated premiums, she said. Others may be capturing the drop in the stock's option implied volatility.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net Keywords: MARKETS STOCKSNEWS
COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.