Stocks Limping Into Expiration Week

Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine border crisis, as well as standard options expiration Friday, there is plenty of volatility on Wall Street today. All three benchmarks are firmly lower midday and headed toward their second-straight weekly losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIis down triple digits to follow up on its worst day of 2022, while the S&P 500 Index (SPXand Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) are sharply lower at the last check. Meanwhile, the U.S. leading economic index fell 0.3% in January. 

MMC Feb18

Redfin Corp (Nasdaq: RDFNis seeing an options surge today, with options volume pacing for the top percentile of its annual range. So far, 6,498 calls and 10,000 puts have crossed the tape -- 12 times what's typically seen at this point. The February 20 put is seeing the most activity, followed by the February 26 call, with new positions being opened at both. RDFN is down 26.9% at $20.96 at the last check, despite the company's stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings report, due to its weak forecast. To follow, RBC downgraded the equity to "sector perform" from "outperform," while no fewer than seven other analysts slashed their price targets. Trading at its lowest level since May of 2020, the security has landed on the Short Sale Restricted (SSR) list today.

RDFN Feb18

One stock surging on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is renewable storage name Energy Vault Holdings Inc (NYSE: NRGV), up 26.1% to trade at $14.00 at last glance, and earlier up at a record high of $18.57. NRGV, which started trading on the NYSE on Monday after its merger with SPAC Novus Capital Corp. II (NXU), is trending on StockTwits today as investors eye the stock following the merge. 

Meanwhile, cloud storage stock Backblaze Inc (Nasdaq: BLZE), which began publicly trading in mid November, is down 32.5% at $9.36 at never-before-seen lows. The company announced wider-than-expected losses of 38 cents per share, though revenue beat estimates. To follow, Oppenheimer and Raymond James lowered their price targets to $23 and $22, respectively. Year-to-date, the equity is down 42.4%. 

Disclaimer: Schaeffer's Investment Research ("SIR" or "we" or "us") is not registered as an investment adviser. SIR relies upon the "publishers' ...

more
How did you like this article? Let us know so we can better customize your reading experience.

Comments

Leave a comment to automatically be entered into our contest to win a free Echo Show.