2:00pm (EST)
The market is near its worst levels of the day and continues to trade off headline news which has been negative for much of the session. Economic news here at home has been uninspiring for the bulls as they continue to give up ground to the bears.
Before the bell, the Commerce Department reported Home construction plunged over 22% in February to 479,000 homes. It was the lowest level in nearly two years and the second-lowest on record in more than 50 years.
Elsewhere, the Labor Department said the Producer Price Index rose to 1.6% in February, which was double the rise from the previous month and the biggest increase since June 2009. Higher energy costs weighed on food prices as they soared nearly 4% which represented the biggest jump in over 35 years. Harsh winter freezes hurt harvesting in which sent fresh vegetable prices soaring and represented 70% of the increase.
And to no one’s surprise, gas prices also spiked in February as the national average price came in at $3.55/ gallon, up $0.40 from a month earlier.
As a result, the Dow is down 190 points to 11,664, while the S&P is off 20 points to 1,261. The Nasdaq is lower by 40 points to 2,627.
As far as “impact” earnings trades for today, we were looking at FedEx (FDX, $88.63, down $2.08) and Nike (NKE, $86.21, down $0.96) which report earnings on Thursday. We took a look at both stocks in our Members Area this morning but as far as playing the options – we will probably sit this round out.
There are other trades on our Watch List that we are warming up to without the risk of earnings but these two stocks will likely be on the move tomorrow. Subscribers, check for the updates.