Real-time equity news
U.S. stock market report
1730 ET 6Oct2010
U.S. economic and earnings diary for Oct. 7
Economic data on tap on Thursday includes weekly initial jobless claims and chain store sales for September.
On the earnings front, Alcoa will kick off the unofficial start to earnings season, while Micron Technology and PepsiCo are also among companies expected to report.
Reuters Messaging: leah.schnurr.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
1720 ET 6Oct2010
Nasdaq slides, S&P slips as tech worries rise
Tech shares slumped on Wednesday, hit by worries about demand for semiconductors and data storage.
The Nasdaq bore the brunt of the day's selling, led by data system services provider Citrix Systems. The stock was down in sympathy with small-cap Equinix Inc, which plunged 33.1 percent to $70.34 after it issued a revenue warning late Tuesday. Citrix slid 14.1 percent to $60.15.
Reuters Messaging: leah.schnurr.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
1648 ET 6Oct2010
Rackspace puts grain traction as shares slump
Rackspace Hosting Inc fell 11.14 percent to $23.29 after competitor Equinix Inc lowered its revenue outlook. The shares of some data center services providers saw a heavy sell-off on Wednesday, a day after Equinix warned of more-than-expected customer attrition and price erosion. For details, see. Equinix fell more than 30 percent and a number of names in the space, including Rackspace, Citrix Systems and VMware are facing heavy selling pressure, said Joe Cusick, senior market analyst at online brokerage OptionsXpress. Overall options volume was 4.3 times greater than the stock's daily average, with about 16,000 puts and 11,000 calls traded in Rackspace, according to Trade Alert. Buyers appear to be dominating the put action, said WhatsTrading.com options strategist. The October 25 puts, which traded 3,409 times, are the most popular line but the November $23, October $24, and December $25 puts are busy as well. The demand for options helped lift the stock's option implied volatility 11.5 percent to 59 percent during the session.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1501 ET 6Oct2010
Intel's Oct $20 calls becomes crowd favorite
Shares in Intel Corp, an industry bellwether, which dominates the market for PC microprocessors, showed some strength and interesting options action on Wednesday. Its shares rose 8 cents to $19.23 even as the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index lost more than 1 percent. The most actively traded contract is Intel's October $20 strike call option, which has traded 101,900 times by 3:01 p.m. EDT, according to Reuters data. The strike's top trade is 27,000 contracts at 15 cents per contract on the International Securities Exchange, which appears to be an opening buyer, based on ISEE sentiment data, said WhatsTrading.com options strategist Frederic Ruffy. The stock's option implied volatility rose 7 percent to 30 percent and some players might be taking positions in anticipation of Intel's earnings slated for Oct. 12, he said.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1450 ET 6Oct2010
Chipmakers down but SOX still on uptrend
The PHLX semiconductor index, down 2 percent, was on track on Wednesday to post its largest daily percentage drop since Aug. 30 as Xilinx Inc and Altera Corp tumbled after a brokerage downgrade. For details, see
But the index's uptrend, going back to the Aug. 30 lows, is still intact from a technical point of view. The 14-day moving average, just above 342, provided strong support, while separate trend lines show further support near 340 and 329.
Reuters Messaging: rodrigo.campos.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
1438 ET 6Oct2010
Call sellers emerge in Cirrus as shares fall
Chipmaker Cirrus Logic Inc dropped 5.08 percent to $16.25 during the afternoon session. In the options market, it appears that some investors sold calls as the stock slide, said WhatsTrading.com options strategist Frederic Ruffy. Overall options volume was 3.6 times the stock's daily average, according to Trade Alert. About 25,000 puts and 3,594 calls traded in Cirrus by 2:31 p.m. EDT. The top trade is a lot of 342 November $14 calls on the $3 bid as 2,484 contracts now traded, he said. The November $15 calls are the busiest line as 3,412 changed hands with 81 percent of the volume on bid price. The Dec $15, Nov $16, Dec $17.5, and Dec $16 calls are seeing interest as well. The call selling helped push the stock's option implied volatility down 5 percent to 57 percent.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net Keywords: MARKETS STOCKSNEWS
COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. 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.
U.S. stock market report
1730 ET 6Oct2010
U.S. economic and earnings diary for Oct. 7
Economic data on tap on Thursday includes weekly initial jobless claims and chain store sales for September.
On the earnings front, Alcoa will kick off the unofficial start to earnings season, while Micron Technology and PepsiCo are also among companies expected to report.
Reuters Messaging: leah.schnurr.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
1720 ET 6Oct2010
Nasdaq slides, S&P slips as tech worries rise
Tech shares slumped on Wednesday, hit by worries about demand for semiconductors and data storage.
The Nasdaq bore the brunt of the day's selling, led by data system services provider Citrix Systems. The stock was down in sympathy with small-cap Equinix Inc, which plunged 33.1 percent to $70.34 after it issued a revenue warning late Tuesday. Citrix slid 14.1 percent to $60.15.
Reuters Messaging: leah.schnurr.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
1648 ET 6Oct2010
Rackspace puts grain traction as shares slump
Rackspace Hosting Inc fell 11.14 percent to $23.29 after competitor Equinix Inc lowered its revenue outlook. The shares of some data center services providers saw a heavy sell-off on Wednesday, a day after Equinix warned of more-than-expected customer attrition and price erosion. For details, see. Equinix fell more than 30 percent and a number of names in the space, including Rackspace, Citrix Systems and VMware are facing heavy selling pressure, said Joe Cusick, senior market analyst at online brokerage OptionsXpress. Overall options volume was 4.3 times greater than the stock's daily average, with about 16,000 puts and 11,000 calls traded in Rackspace, according to Trade Alert. Buyers appear to be dominating the put action, said WhatsTrading.com options strategist. The October 25 puts, which traded 3,409 times, are the most popular line but the November $23, October $24, and December $25 puts are busy as well. The demand for options helped lift the stock's option implied volatility 11.5 percent to 59 percent during the session.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1501 ET 6Oct2010
Intel's Oct $20 calls becomes crowd favorite
Shares in Intel Corp, an industry bellwether, which dominates the market for PC microprocessors, showed some strength and interesting options action on Wednesday. Its shares rose 8 cents to $19.23 even as the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index lost more than 1 percent. The most actively traded contract is Intel's October $20 strike call option, which has traded 101,900 times by 3:01 p.m. EDT, according to Reuters data. The strike's top trade is 27,000 contracts at 15 cents per contract on the International Securities Exchange, which appears to be an opening buyer, based on ISEE sentiment data, said WhatsTrading.com options strategist Frederic Ruffy. The stock's option implied volatility rose 7 percent to 30 percent and some players might be taking positions in anticipation of Intel's earnings slated for Oct. 12, he said.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1450 ET 6Oct2010
Chipmakers down but SOX still on uptrend
The PHLX semiconductor index, down 2 percent, was on track on Wednesday to post its largest daily percentage drop since Aug. 30 as Xilinx Inc and Altera Corp tumbled after a brokerage downgrade. For details, see
But the index's uptrend, going back to the Aug. 30 lows, is still intact from a technical point of view. The 14-day moving average, just above 342, provided strong support, while separate trend lines show further support near 340 and 329.
Reuters Messaging: rodrigo.campos.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
1438 ET 6Oct2010
Call sellers emerge in Cirrus as shares fall
Chipmaker Cirrus Logic Inc dropped 5.08 percent to $16.25 during the afternoon session. In the options market, it appears that some investors sold calls as the stock slide, said WhatsTrading.com options strategist Frederic Ruffy. Overall options volume was 3.6 times the stock's daily average, according to Trade Alert. About 25,000 puts and 3,594 calls traded in Cirrus by 2:31 p.m. EDT. The top trade is a lot of 342 November $14 calls on the $3 bid as 2,484 contracts now traded, he said. The November $15 calls are the busiest line as 3,412 changed hands with 81 percent of the volume on bid price. The Dec $15, Nov $16, Dec $17.5, and Dec $16 calls are seeing interest as well. The call selling helped push the stock's option implied volatility down 5 percent to 57 percent.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net Keywords: MARKETS STOCKSNEWS
COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. 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.