The Dow could suffer its longest stretch of losses of 1% or more since 2015
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) has come off its session lows, but is still staring at a more than 200-point deficit at midday, as talk of a trade war from President Donald Trump rattles the global stock market. A sharp drop for McDonald's (MCD) stock is only putting additional pressure on the blue-chip index. If the Dow loses 1% again today, it'll be the fourth straight drop of that magnitude -- the longest streak of its kind since August 2015. And, as stocks sell off, traders are rushing to safe-haven assets, with April-dated gold futures up 1.3% to trade at $1,322 an ounce.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- 2 retail stocks getting whacked after earnings.
- Analyst: This gun stock has bottomed.
- Plus, options bulls double down on Wynn Resorts; an overbought drug stock retreats; and Gap shares outperform.
Among the list of stocks with unusual options volume today is Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ:WYNN), with nearly 21,000 calls exchanged -- more than double what's typically seen at this point, and volume pacing in the 98th annual percentile. Traders appear to be betting on a bounce, with buy-to-open activity detected at the weekly 3/2 160-strike and May 170 calls. WYNN stock is down 1.6% to trade at $160.82 -- testing support atop its 120-day moving average -- and has shed roughly 20% since sexual misconduct allegations toward the casino's ex-CEO Steve Wynn first surfaced in late January.
Just one day after its shares doubled in value, Tenax Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:TENX) is near the bottom of the Nasdaq, down 28.4% to trade at $7.59. However, the biotech's 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) closed last night at 71.9 -- in overbought territory -- suggesting a near-term pullback may have been in the cards.
Not all of the day's action is to the downside, though. Shares of Gap Inc (NYSE:GPS) are at the top of the S&P 500 Index (SPX), after the retailer's strong fourth-quarter earnings and same-store sales sparked a round of bullish brokerage notes. GPS stock was last seen trading up 5.8% at $33.53, and back above its 50-day moving average.
