Stocks are a mixed bag to end the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is cooling off from yesterday’s record highs, down triple digits at its session lows. The S&P 500 Index (SPX), is cautiously higher, while Netflix (NFLX) and the tech sector are sending the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) toward a third-straight win. Despite today’s choppiness, all three major indexes are heading for comfortable weekly wins, in what would be the Dow and SPX’s longest weekly win streaks since December 2023. 
There’s a surge in options activity around JetBlue Airways Corporation (Nasdaq: JBLU) today. At last check, over 56,000 calls have changed hands, volume that’s 19 times the average intraday amount and 14 times the number of puts exchanged. Most of the activity is at the weekly 10/25 8-strike call, where new positions are being bought to open. While today’s catalyst is unclear, yesterday’s United Airlines’ (UAL) upbeat profit forecast lifted JBLU and its peers. JetBlue stock is up 6.2% to trade at $7.87 today, padding its 41.8% year-to-date gain. Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (Nasdaq: ISRG) stock is leading the SPX higher today, up 8.2% to trade at $512.68, and earlier hitting a record high of $517.61. The robotics medical tech company reported a top-line beat for the third quarter, prompting no fewer than 10 price-target hikes, the highest coming from Raymond James to $560 from $540. ISRG is now up 52% in 2024.Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq: FITB) is near the bottom of the SPX, last seen down 3.6% to trade at $43.73, after the Cincinnati-based bank whiffed on third-quarter earnings and revenue estimates. FITB initially popped to a two-year high of $45.71 at the open, but quickly pivoted lower. Year-to-date, the stock is still up 26.8% in 2024, with support in place at its 50-day moving average.
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