The DJIA is still on pace for its worst week in months
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is higher at midday, as soft inflation data and a strong performance from Apple stock help to offset mounting tensions with North Korea. The blue-chip index is on track to snap its three-day losing streak, but is still looking at its biggest weekly decline since April. The S&P 500 Index (SPX) and Nasdaq Composite (COMP) are also higher, but are on track for their worst weeks since March and June, respectively. Elsewhere, the stock market's "fear gauge," the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), has pared some of yesterday's huge gains, but appears destined for its biggest weekly gain since December 2015.
Continue reading for more on today's market -- and don't miss:
- Option bears are blasting Amazon's latest victim.
- Behind today's Snapchat stock plunge.
- Plus, M&A chatter in the grocery sector; a health stock's big day; and the latest retailer earnings casualty.
Among the stocks with unusual volume is grocery giant -- and another
recent Amazon victim --
Kroger Co (NYSE:KR), with roughly 21,000 calls traded. That is eight times the average intraday pace, and on track for the 99th percentile of its annual range. The August 24 call is the most active, accounting for 7,200 contracts, in what
Trade-Alert attributes to bullish betting on M&A chatter with Costco. KR stock is currently up 1.3% to trade at $23.76.
Community Health Systems (NYSE:CYH) is trading near the top of the NYSE today, up 15% at $6.98 -- on pace for its highest close since the healthcare stock cut its full-year forecast last week. However, the stock is still staring at a 35% loss year-over-year.
J C Penney Company Inc (NYSE:JCP) is trading lower, among the worst stocks on the NYSE, after reporting a steeper-than-expected loss for the second quarter. The retail stock is down 17% to trade at $3.87, and fell to a record low of $3.85 earlier. The shares have fallen back beneath their 40-day moving average -- a trendline that led JCP lower through most of 2017 -- and are currently short-sale restricted.
