Stocks Suffer Steepening Selloff Midday
The Dow has completely erased yesterday's rebound
Stocks have completely erased yesterday's rebound by midday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) off over 1,100 points amid concerns over the White House's vague fiscal response to the coronavirus-related blow the economy has taken in recent weeks. The S&P 500 (SPX) and Nasdaq-100 Index (IXIC) are also deep in the red at the halfway point. Oil prices meanwhile, are still below breakeven, but have managed to pare some of this morning's losses. At last check, April-dated crude futures are down 2.7% at $33.45 a barrel.
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One stock sporting unusual options volume today is Chemours Co (NYSE:CC). Puts are severely outweighing calls, with 49,000 puts across the tape so far -- 47 times the intraday average -- compared to just 537 calls.Most popular is the January 2021 8-strike put, followed by the July 13 put, with positions being opened at the former. CC is down 5.9% at $10.85 amid news that the Independent Chairman of Chemours Company, Richard Brown, just bought $105,000 worth of stock at $14.06.
One stock scaling the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today is Co-Diagnostics Inc (NASDAQ:CODX), up 84.9% to trade at $12.74, after H.C. Wainwright lifted its price target to $20 from $4 and reiterated its "buy" rating. This comes on the heels of the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) decision to expedite the availability of COVID-19 tests, with Co-Diagnostics the first U.S. company to receive CE marking for its Logix Smart COVID-19 screening test. product. Looking at the charts, support at the equity's 40-day moving average has attributed to CODX's now 1,201% year-to-date lead.
Situated near the bottom of the Nasdaq is Fulgent Genetics Inc (NASDAQ: FLGT) which is lower despite a price-target hike from Piper Sandler to $16.50 from $12.30. This dip comes after the firm posted fourth-quarter earnings that fell in line with analysts' expectations, but revenue for the same quarter that wound up missing the mark. Now, FLGT down 23.3% at $11.69, set for its first close below the 200-day moving average since January 2019.