JJ Kinahan, Chief Market Strategist, TD Ameritrade
(Friday Market Open) This morning, stock index futures are pointing lower before the open, led by deep-in-the-red Nasdaq futures. The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) moved back above the 20 level before the open. Tech stocks look to be laggards once again with Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Tesla (TSLA), and Nvidia (NVDA) all trading lower in premarket action.
However, Oracle (ORCL) appears to be falling for a different reason, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Oracle is in talks to buy Cerner (CERN) for $30 billion. Oracle fell 4.77% in premarket trading while Cerner rallied 16.37%.
Financial stocks could also trade a little lower on Friday because the 10-year Treasury yield (TNX) has fallen below 1.4%. The 10 year fell as oil prices (/CL) dropped 1.73% before the open.
There are a couple of executive changes of note this morning starting with General Motors (GM). Dan Ammann the CEO of GM’s autonomous vehicle company Cruise LLC has unexpectedly left the company. Some had speculated that Ammann was being groomed to replace current GM CEO Mary Barra in the future. GM is down 2.62% in premarket trading.
Darden Restaurants (DRI) announced better-than-expected earnings and revenue before the opening bell, but lowered its future earnings guidance. It also also announced that CEO Eugene Lee Jr. would retire in May of 2022. Darden was down 3.89% in premarket trading.
Kellogg’s (K) management team was able to resolve an ongoing labor issue with its worker’s union. The stock rallied 3.59% on Thursday as rumors of the deal emerged.
The COVID-19 Omicron variant is pushing across New York and New Jersey prompting some businesses to shut down while others are having their employees work from home. Also, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) is down 2% in premarket trading after a CDC panel recommended the Moderna (MRNA) and Pfizer (PFE) COVID-19 vaccines over the JNJ vaccine.
On top of Omicron news and the big tech selling, this Friday is a quadruple witching day which means stock index futures, stock index options, stock options and single stocks futures contracts expire simultaneously. As traders unwind these trades it can result in greater volatility so investors should be extra careful during the first and last trading hours of the day.
Big Tech Barrage
When the Fed sparked a late afternoon rally on Wednesday, it looked like it would usher in an early start to the Santa Claus rally. But the momentum fizzled on Thursday …….
Source: https://tickertape.tdameritrade.com/market-news/Nasdaq-deep-red-18905
