The Dow is looking to eke out its seventh straight win
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) has spent time on both sides of breakeven on this Merger Monday, but was last seen en route to a seventh straight daily gain -- tying its longest winning streak since October. Ahead of expiration, April-dated crude futures were last seen 0.7% higher at $39.70 per barrel, with a modest rise in oil prices helping stocks look past ugly housing data. Specifically, existing home sales plunged 7.1% in February, to the lowest rate since November, according to the National Association of Realtors.
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Among today's stocks with unusual call volume is Dow component
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), which is hosting its
highly anticipated product reveal at 1 p.m. ET. AAPL calls are trading at 1.4 times the average intraday rate, and it looks like some short-term bulls may be buying to open the weekly 3/24 107-strike calls. By doing so, they expect AAPL to topple $107 by Thursday's close, when the options expire. AAPL was last seen 0.8% higher at $106.79.
KB Home (NYSE:KBH) is among the worst performers on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today, down 1.5% at $13.52. Housing stocks are in the red after existing home sales fell sharply in February.
One of the best performers on the NYSE is Indian entertainment issue Eros International plc (NYSE:EROS), up 13.4% at $13.07, after the firm said it completed an internal review -- to the satisfaction of its audit committee. EROS is now trading in territory not charted since early November.
The
CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is up 0.1 point, or 0.9%, at 14.15.
Today's put/call volume ratio on the
SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is 1.84, with puts handily outpacing calls. SPY is up 0.03%% at $204.46.