Oracle Calls Fall; Stocks Edge Lower
With little in the way of economic news to act off of, stocks are taking a
breather Wednesday with the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 all trading
fractionally lower. Oil services and biotechs are the top performing groups of
the day, while banks and broker/dealers are the weakest.
At mid-day, the VIX has increased .41 to 24.06.
The OEX July 820 calls are down 7/8 to10 on triple average volume.
Among bigger movers on heavier-than-average volume:
Oracle
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PowerRating) topped earnings estimates Tuesday but received a downgrade
from Merrill Lynch. Oracle is down 2 39/64 to 83 7/16 while the Oracle July 90
calls have fallen 1 3/4 to 3 on triple the average volume.
Microsoft
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PowerRating) has jumped 4 3/16 to 79 1/8 on word the Supreme Court
may hear Microsoft’s antitrust case. The Microsoft July 75 calls have risen 2
3/8 to 5 5/8 on more than 16,000 shares.
In the biotech arena, Immunex
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PowerRating) has risen 4 5/8 to 55 11/16. The
Immunex July 60 calls July 60 calls are up 2 7/16 to 4 3/4 on double average
volume.
Internet portal Lycos
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PowerRating) is down 4 1/4 to 54 5/8 while the Lycos
July 65 calls are down 1 1/8 to 1 on more than quadruple the average volume.
Looking ahead, the week’s economic news is light as traders look ahead to
Thursday’s weekly unemployment numbers at 8:30 AM ET for more clues as to the
Fed’s inclination about rates next week.