The Dow was last seen up 280 points
Stocks are making another attempt to rebound on Wednesday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) and S&P 500 Index (SPX) both up roughly 1% at the midway mark, as both indexes look to snap six-day losing streaks. The Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) is also sporting solid midday gains after a morning spent struggling for direction.
Bond yields are starting to soften, with the 10-year Treasury yield shrinking back below 4%. Overseas, the pound has stabilized as investors react to the Bank of England's (BoE) plans to instate a temporary bond buying program. Wall Street's "fear gauge," the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) is also taking a breather after earlier hitting its highest level since June 13.
Continue reading for more on today's market, including:
- Walt Disney temporarily shutters Florida attractions.
- Biogen's late-stage Alzheimer's study is an "unequivocal win."
- Plus, options bulls flood TDOC; PRTA gets Alzheimer's halo lift; psychedelics stock sinks.
Teladoc Health Inc (NYSE:TDOC) is seeing a huge surge in bullish options activity, with 22,000 calls across the tape so far, volume that's 13 times the intraday average. and 36 times the number of puts exchanged. Most popular is the weekly 9/30 29-strike call, followed distantly by the weekly 10/7 32-strike call, with new positions being bought to open at both. TDOC was last seen up 4.6% at $27.86, brushing off a price-target cut from RBC to $35 from $53. The pandemic-era darling has shed 70% this year.
One of the best performing stocks on the Nasdaq today is Prothena Corporation PLC (NASDAQ:PRTA), last seen up 76.1% to trade at $54.58 at last check, following an upgrade from Bank of America to "buy" from "neutral." The analyst noted Biogen (BIIB) and Eisai's Alzheimer's trial, which successfully reached its end goal. BofA noted that the massive milestone is giving a halo lift to other companies developing Alzheimer's treatments. PRTA is trading at a 10-month high and now up 10% year-to-date, clearing pressure at the 180-day moving average for the first time since December 2021.
One of the worst performing stocks on the Nasdaq today is Mind Medicine (MindMed) Inc (NASDAQ:MNMD). The equity was last seen down 49.6% at $3.09 after the psychedelics company priced an diluted secondary offering of 7.1 million shares at $4.25 per share. MNMD is trading at a nearly three-year low, and has been sliding down the charts since its mid-August pop lost steam at the 200-day moving average.