Oil futures are trading lower this morning, too
Following yesterday's historic rally on Wall Street, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) are trading well below fair value this morning. This premarket volatility follows a weak reading on Chinese industrial earnings, as well as a Reuters report that the Trump administration is preparing to ban U.S. companies from purchasing telecom equipment from China's Huawei and ZTE. Oil prices are set to resume their rout, as well, with February-dated crude futures down 2.3% at $45.14 per barrel.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- This "recession-proof" stock just flashed a reliable buy signal.
- 2 drug stocks H.C. Wainwright is buying.
- Plus, a big bull note for CBS; a tech stock set to jump 25%; and JPMorgan gets fined.
5 Things You Need to Know Today
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The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) saw 940,209 call contracts traded on Wednesday, compared to 585,603 put contracts. The single-session equity put/call ratio fell to 0.62, and the 21-day moving average ticked down to 0.73.
- Loop Capital reiterated its "buy" rating on CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS), citing a "favorable risk/reward." However, given the stock's roughly 27% decline from its early November highs near $60, the brokerage firm also lowered its price target to $59 from $68 -- still a 26% premium to last night's close at $43.37. CBS stock is up 1.3% in electronic trading.
- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved Delight PSAP, a hearing aid device made by Energous Corp (NASDAQ:WATT) that does not require a prescription. WATT stock has been making a beeline lower in 2018 -- down 76.5%, as of last night's close at $4.58 -- but is set to open up 25.6% at $5.80 per share.
- JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) will pay more than $135 million to settle claims the financial firm improperly handled "pre-released" American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) between 2011 and early 2015, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing released yesterday. After rebounding from an early intraday 15-month low of $91.11 to close up 4.1% yesterday, JPM stock is down 1.4% ahead of the bell, on track to open near $94.54 per share.
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Weekly jobless claims fell to 216,000 from a revised 217,000 last week. The Fed's balance sheet and consumer confidence data are due today, while trade data is expected tomorrow. New home sales data has been postponed due to the government shutdown.
Global Stocks Track Volatile Wall Street Trading
Markets in Asia were all over the place today. Japan's Nikkei finished an up-and-down session 3.9% higher and out of bear market territory, thanks to resurgent tech and energy sectors. However, China's Shanghai Composite shed 0.6%, after top officials from state-owned oil entity Sinopec were suspended over suspicious trading concerns. South Korea's Kospi finished marginally higher, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gave back 0.7%.
Over in Europe, stocks have been unable to match the resounding rally from U.S. equities yesterday. As markets reopen following the Christmas break, the German DAX leads the laggards with a 2% drop, at last check. Elsewhere, the French CAC 40 is off 0.3%, while London's FTSE 100 is down 1.2%.