Real-time equity news
U.S. stock market report
1725 EST 28Dec2010
Economic diary for Dec. 29
There are no S&P 500 companies scheduled to report quarterly results on Wednesday and no major economic data.
Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
1616 ET 28Dec2010
Dow, S&P close higher as energy stocks rally
The Dow and S&P 500 rose in light trading on Tuesday, extending December's rally, as cold weather in the Northeast lifted oil prices and energy shares. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 20.51 points, or 0.18 percent, at 11,575.54, according to the latest available figures. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.99 point, or 0.08 percent, at 1,258.53. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 4.39 points, or 0.16
Reuters Messaging: angela.moon.reuters.com@reuters.net
1606 ET 28Dec2010
Traders favor Popular Inc call options
Traders circled the bullish options on Popular Inc on Tuesday as shares of the largest Puerto Rican lender closed up 1.65 percent to $3.08. About 12,000 calls and only 174 puts changed hands on Popular on the day, or 2.8 times the usual volume, according to Trade Alert. One top trade earlier in the session was 750 April $3 strike calls at 35 cents per contract on the International Securities Exchange, and an opening customer buyer, according to ISEE data, said WhatsTrading.com options strategist Frederic Ruffy. In fact, he noted 6,888 BPOP calls have been bought-to-open on ISE. The strike has now traded 7,681 times, Trade Alert data show. The stock's option implied volatility is up 7.5 percent to 44.5 percent. There is no apparent news on the bank. 'Shares have been trading mostly sideways in a narrow range recently and are basically at the same levels today as they were seven months ago,' Ruffy said.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1509 ET 28Dec2010-CBOE put-to
call ratio signals potential market pullback
After the market's tight trading range on Monday and now again on Tuesday, market watchers are taking notice of volatility's move to the upside -- notably the CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, popping from 16 to 18, said optionsXpress senior market analyst Joe Cusick in a report. He views this as a little unusual considering the light volume, tight range and the offensive sectors, such as the financials, continuing to catch a bid and show leadership to the upside. 'What has shaken the short-term support for the bulls is a well known sentiment indicator, specifically the CBOE equity put-to-call ratio which had an intraday reading of 0.75 on Tuesday,' Cusick said in an interview. 'We have only seen this level six times in the last 15 months. The significance of this is that this could foreshadow a potential short-term pullback in the S&P 500 index.' While the market has all the momentum still clearly pointing to the upside, Cusick keeps an an eye on this gauge for some potential signs of market turns. 'I am taking a contrarian perspective when looking at the P/C ratio this way,' he said.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1431 ET 28Dec2010-Market's bullish status quo remains in effect
McMillan
'Santa Claus hasn't tipped his hand yet, as this seasonally bullish period is off to a very slow start -- the market hasn't moved much either way yet,' said Larry McMillan of McMillan Analysis Corp, in a report. 'As a result, the bullish status quo remains in effect.'
It appears a lot of traders have decided to stay home this week. 'They may show up for the last day or two, since they want to make sure that nothing strange happens to their year-end 'marks,' but otherwise this is quite boring,' he said. The technical indicators McMillan follows remain positive. That includes the S&P 500 index remaining in a strong uptrend and equity-only put-call ratios continuing to decline, and thus remain on buy signals, the report said.
McMillan said the only potential problem for bullish investors is that the CBOE Volatility Index is up for the third day in a row, though not by much. The VIX stood at 17.92, up 1.41 percent. 'A three-day rise in (the) VIX, while the broad market remains flat or higher, is a sell signal of sorts,' he said. The recent rise notwithstanding, he said the overall VIX chart is still in a downtrend, which is bullish in the intermediate-term for stocks.
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
1725 EST 28Dec2010
Economic diary for Dec. 29
There are no S&P 500 companies scheduled to report quarterly results on Wednesday and no major economic data.
Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
1616 ET 28Dec2010
Dow, S&P close higher as energy stocks rally
The Dow and S&P 500 rose in light trading on Tuesday, extending December's rally, as cold weather in the Northeast lifted oil prices and energy shares. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 20.51 points, or 0.18 percent, at 11,575.54, according to the latest available figures. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.99 point, or 0.08 percent, at 1,258.53. The Nasdaq Composite Index was down 4.39 points, or 0.16
Reuters Messaging: angela.moon.reuters.com@reuters.net
1606 ET 28Dec2010
Traders favor Popular Inc call options
Traders circled the bullish options on Popular Inc on Tuesday as shares of the largest Puerto Rican lender closed up 1.65 percent to $3.08. About 12,000 calls and only 174 puts changed hands on Popular on the day, or 2.8 times the usual volume, according to Trade Alert. One top trade earlier in the session was 750 April $3 strike calls at 35 cents per contract on the International Securities Exchange, and an opening customer buyer, according to ISEE data, said WhatsTrading.com options strategist Frederic Ruffy. In fact, he noted 6,888 BPOP calls have been bought-to-open on ISE. The strike has now traded 7,681 times, Trade Alert data show. The stock's option implied volatility is up 7.5 percent to 44.5 percent. There is no apparent news on the bank. 'Shares have been trading mostly sideways in a narrow range recently and are basically at the same levels today as they were seven months ago,' Ruffy said.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1509 ET 28Dec2010-CBOE put-to
call ratio signals potential market pullback
After the market's tight trading range on Monday and now again on Tuesday, market watchers are taking notice of volatility's move to the upside -- notably the CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, popping from 16 to 18, said optionsXpress senior market analyst Joe Cusick in a report. He views this as a little unusual considering the light volume, tight range and the offensive sectors, such as the financials, continuing to catch a bid and show leadership to the upside. 'What has shaken the short-term support for the bulls is a well known sentiment indicator, specifically the CBOE equity put-to-call ratio which had an intraday reading of 0.75 on Tuesday,' Cusick said in an interview. 'We have only seen this level six times in the last 15 months. The significance of this is that this could foreshadow a potential short-term pullback in the S&P 500 index.' While the market has all the momentum still clearly pointing to the upside, Cusick keeps an an eye on this gauge for some potential signs of market turns. 'I am taking a contrarian perspective when looking at the P/C ratio this way,' he said.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1431 ET 28Dec2010-Market's bullish status quo remains in effect
McMillan
'Santa Claus hasn't tipped his hand yet, as this seasonally bullish period is off to a very slow start -- the market hasn't moved much either way yet,' said Larry McMillan of McMillan Analysis Corp, in a report. 'As a result, the bullish status quo remains in effect.'
It appears a lot of traders have decided to stay home this week. 'They may show up for the last day or two, since they want to make sure that nothing strange happens to their year-end 'marks,' but otherwise this is quite boring,' he said. The technical indicators McMillan follows remain positive. That includes the S&P 500 index remaining in a strong uptrend and equity-only put-call ratios continuing to decline, and thus remain on buy signals, the report said.
McMillan said the only potential problem for bullish investors is that the CBOE Volatility Index is up for the third day in a row, though not by much. The VIX stood at 17.92, up 1.41 percent. 'A three-day rise in (the) VIX, while the broad market remains flat or higher, is a sell signal of sorts,' he said. The recent rise notwithstanding, he said the overall VIX chart is still in a downtrend, which is bullish in the intermediate-term for stocks.
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.