The VIX is pacing for its biggest daily jump since mid-May
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) has given back nearly all of yesterday's gains, squandering a brief early morning lead to fall deep into the red. Bank stocks like blue chip JPMorgan are rallying following the latest Fed stress tests -- helping the Financial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLF) outperform once again -- but ongoing woes out of the tech sector are holding back major U.S. stock indexes. As such, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) -- or the market's "fear barometer" -- is pacing for its biggest daily jump since mid-May.
Elsewhere, investors continue to monitor the initial public offering (IPO) of Blue Apron Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:APRN), with the shares last seen sporting a solid 8% gain after pricing at $10 a share yesterday. Oil prices shouldn't be ignored, either, with August-dated crude futures up another 1.3% at $45.34 per barrel, on pace for a sixth straight gain.
Continue reading for more on today's market -- and don't miss:
- Buy the dip on FAANG stocks, if history is any indicator.
- A beer stock bubbling to new highs.
- Plus, puts active on this video game stock; a small-cap tech stock up 10%; and Pier 1 crashes.
Among the stocks with unusual put volume today is Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI). The tech-sector swoon has hit the video game stock, pressuring it 2.7% lower to $57.61, and options traders are foreseeing extended trouble ahead. Specifically, ATVI puts are trading at 1.5 times the expected pace, with buy-to-open activity spotted at the weekly 7/7 55.50-strike put -- meaning traders are expecting previously hot ATVI stock to fall below $55.50 by next Friday's close, when the contracts expire.
Wireless charging innovator Energous Corp (NASDAQ:WATT) is rallying today on the Nasdaq, last seen up 10.1% at $16.94, thanks to news Dialog Semiconductor is investing an additional $15 million into the company. WATT stock is on pace for its highest close since late January, when an anonymous short seller sent the shares tumbling.
Shares of home goods retailer
Pier 1 Imports Inc (NYSE:PIR) are diving on the New York Stock Exchange, following disappointing
first-quarter revenue. PIR stock has shed 5.5% to trade at $5.09, bringing its year-to-date deficit to 40%.