BMY Puts Rise; Stocks Slip
On the heels of the Fed’s surprise rate cut stocks finished lower, although
the Nasdaq did manage to hold on to most of Wednesday’s gains. Transportation
stocks were the day’s top sector while insurance was the weakest.
At the close, the VIX was up 1.41 to 30.08.
Among bigger movers on heavier-than-average volume:
Drugs fell victim to profit-taking after big gains recently, and Bristol
Myers Squibb
(
BMY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) was no exception, falling 3 3/4 to 63 1/16. The BMY
January 60 puts rose 11/16 to 1 3/16 on more than 12,000 contracts.
J.P. Morgan
(
JPM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gave up some early gains but still finished up 1 3/8 to
52. The JPM January 45 calls ended up 1 1/8 to 7 1/8 on more than11,000
contracts.
Nortel
(
NT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) benefited from strength in telecom as it rose 1 3/8 to 36 1/4.
The Nortel January 35 calls gained 3/4 to 3 3/8 on more than 7900 contracts.
IBM
(
IBM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) slipped 1 7/16 to 93 3/16 to give back some recent gains. The
IBM January 90 puts added 1 1/8 to 4 on more than 11,000 contracts.