The DJIA is fighting to break its longest losing streak since 2011
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is attempting to avoid its longest losing streak since 2011, as financial stocks Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM) follow their European counterparts higher. Also helping stocks muscle their way back from an early morning stumble is an encouraging ADP private-sector jobs report, as well as the Institute for Supply Management's non-manufacturing index -- which, despite declining in July, stayed above the key 50 mark. Meanwhile, oil prices have surged above the critical $40-per-barrel level, with September-dated crude futures up 2.4% at $40.47 per barrel, as a bigger-than-expected drawdown in gasoline supplies overshadows an unexpected spike in weekly crude inventories.
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Among the stocks with unusual option volume is banking stock Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (NYSE:RBS), with calls trading at 38 times their usual intraday clip. RBS' August 5 and 6 calls are most active option, and it looks like one speculator is using the front-month options to initiate a long call spread. RBS is due to report earnings on Friday, and was last seen up 2.4% at $5.07.
Biotech Cesca Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:KOOL) is among the best performers on the Nasdaq today, after the company announced promising follow-up results for its SurgWerks device to treat patients with critical limb ischemia. KOOL was last seen up 29.4% at $5.76.
Software stock Evolving Systems Inc (NASDAQ:EVOL) is among the worst performers on the Nasdaq today, currently down 16.9% at $4.41 -- fresh off a seven-year low of $4.05 -- after the firm reported fiscal third-quarter earnings last night. Today's move has put EVOL well under the $5 level, which has contained pullbacks since the beginning of the year.
The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is down 1.3%, or 0.2 point, at 13.20.
Today's put/call volume ratio on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is 0.53, with calls nearly doubling puts. SPY is up 0.1%, or 0.3 point, at $215.86.
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