The Dow and its peers are back near breakeven at midday
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI), S&P 500 Index (SPX), and Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) have all hit new highs today, though a big drop in job openings in November has pulled the major indexes back near breakeven on the day. In turn, the Dow's four-day win streak is in jeopardy -- though stocks' weekly gains appear firmly in place. Elsewhere, traders were also monitoring upbeat housing data, along with the latest headlines from the M&A and earnings fronts.
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One name seeing increased call activity today is SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), as the gold-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF) trades up 0.2% at $146.55. Calls are crossing at two times the expected pace, led by heavy trading at the March 153 call. The March 163 and 164 calls are also seeing heavy trading. GLD's 10-day call/put volume ratio is 1.66 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), showing there's been steady demand for long calls lately.
One of the best performers on the Street today is 2U Inc (NASDAQ:TWOU), due to buzz that it could be exploring a sale. TWOU is up 7% at $23.30, putting the shares of the education concern back above the 50-day moving average. The stock has mostly been trending higher since its July lows near $12.
Another stock on the rise today is
Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP), with the social media stock rising 4.4% to $19.05, thanks to an upgrade to "buy" at UBS. The brokerage firm set a $24 price target for SNAP, which touched a new 52-week high of $19.29 earlier.