Speculative Trading Heightens Uncertainty; JNJ Reports Vaccine 66% Effective Globally

Speculative Trading Heightens Uncertainty; JNJ Reports Vaccine 66% Effective Globally

Key Takeaways:

The last day of a volatile and heavily traded stock market week opens this morning with investors apparently feeling uneasy given the state of certain speculative trades that have been in the spotlight for days.

At the moment it seems like there is a little bit of turnover in the market, with people trying to determine how all this will shake out. In the meantime, with volatility already heightened, investors may want to be on the lookout for even more volatility because of options expiration.

While the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) did ease yesterday, it still closed above 30, and this morning is up roughly 14%.

Still, the selling in equities this morning isn't as pronounced as it was earlier in the week. Even though the VIX is higher along with gold, which is widely considered a safe-haven investment in turbulent times, oil is higher and so is the yield on the 10-year Treasury. The lower demand for U.S. government debt and increased willingness to buy a riskier asset like oil suggests that there is underlying support for the market once the hubbub about short squeezes dies down.

Turning to coronavirus-related developments, vaccine news has been mixed. Novavax (NVAX) said its vaccine showed