Today's Options Market Update

Stocks are rising sharply, adding to yesterday’s rally, amid a smaller-than-expected rate hike from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). On the equity front, South Korean internet giant Naver Corporation announced that it will acquire Poshmark for $1.2 billion. Electric vehicle company Rivian posted a noticeable jump in its Q3 production, and confirmed that it is on track to achieve its production goals for FY22. In economic news, factory orders remained unchanged, the final reads on durable goods orders matched expectations, data on capital spending was upwardly adjusted, and the Job Opening and Labor Turnover Survey fell more than forecasted. Treasury yields are declining, and the U.S. dollar is falling. Crude oil prices are rising ahead of this week's OPEC meeting, with reports suggesting production cuts may be in the offing, and gold is trading higher. Asian stocks finished broadly higher following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s dovish monetary policy decision, while markets in mainland China and Hong Kong were closed for holidays. European stocks are rising noticeably amid the RBA’s rate increase, and following yesterday’s announcement from the U.K. government that it will reverse its decision to cut taxes.

At 10:53 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 2.2%, the S&P 500 is climbing 2.7%, and the Nasdaq Composite is soaring 3.3%. WTI crude oil is jumping $2.89 to $86.52 per barrel, and Brent crude oil is rallying $2.12 at $90.98 per barrel. The gold spot price is increasing $25.00 to $1,727.00 per ounce, and the Dollar Index is falling 1.0% to 110.72. Natural Gas prices have traded in a range of $6.31-6.725 and were last seen trading higher by $0.241 (or +3.72%) to $6.711/MMBtu.

Source: Schwab Center for Financial Research

Today’s Bullish Activity

Moving higher this morning is Domino’s Pizza Inc. (DPZ + $12.38 to $328.82) after UBS upgraded the pizza delivery chain to “Buy” from “Neutral” and raised their price target on the stock to $430.00 from $385.00, citing an attractive risk/reward profile. Commenting on the move, UBS analyst Dennis Geiger stated, “We see near-term catalysts to accelerate DPZ sales from: expected upcoming price increases on select promos, efforts to improve driver staffing shortages, and potential 3P delivery partnerships. Additionally, we believe DPZ should exhibit above avg resiliency in a pressured spending environment given leading value positioning and a very affordable dinner option for families”. Calls are slightly outnumbering puts with the October 7th 340.00 call being the highest volume contract (volume is 554).