Credit: Shutterstock photoAfter the open… Falling oil prices appear to have caused a major casualty this morning, as Civeo ( CVEO ), a Canadian / Australian oil services company, announced that it would suspend dividends and slash expenses, as its customers are scaling back dramatically on spending, causing the stock to drop 45%. There is nothing surprising here - there's really no way oil services companies, except for the largest and most diverse, can adjust their operations quickly enough to avoid a painful ding from the collapse of global fuel prices. This won't be the last.
There's a confirmed case of Ebola in Scotland, confusion in Greece , a confirmation that AirAsia flight 8501 crashed into the ocean and a $60 rise in the price of gold this morning, but the market is taking it all more or less in stride. The S&P 500 is down 0.3%.
Here are your Tuesday morning market metrics. Industries doing well today include Metals & Mining, Airlines and Food & Staples. Industries showing weakness include Energy Equipment, Construction & Engineering and Multi-Utilities.
The VIX is up 4% to 15.68 after closing on Monday at 15.77. The most active option strikes are for National Bank of Greece ( NBG ) with 3,525 January 7 calls changing hands. The total put-call volume ratio is 0.72, (215,164/154,858). NYSE Adv/Dec 1,228/1,751. Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1,015/1,385.
Julian Close has been a business writer since the first day of the twenty-first century, having written for PRA International and the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping. He graduated from Davidson College in 1993 and received a Master of Arts in Teaching from Mary Baldwin College in 2011. He became a stockbroker in 1993, but now works for Fresh Brewed Media and uses his powers only for good. You can see closing trades for all Julian's long and short positions and track his long term performance via twitter: @JulianClose_MIC .
This article was originally published on MarketIntelligenceCenter.com
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
