Quadruple witching, when market index futures, market index options, stock options and stock futures expire, has added some volatility to the markets today.  The final hour of trading is called "quadruple witching hour."  There is also an S&P sector reweighting on the close today.  Expect lots of volatility as we approach the end of the day.        

Next week will be action packed with Consumer Confidence on Tuesday; the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) rate decision on Wednesday; Durable Goods on Thursday and PCE Prices and Personal Income/Spending on Friday. 

There were no economic releases today, but we did see some M&A activity.  Mazor Robotics (MZOR) agreed to be acquired by Medtronic’s for $58.50 a share in cash, close to an 11% premium from MZOR’s closing price on Thursday, valuing the company at $1.64 billion.  Mazor pioneered the use of robotics in spinal procedures.

Crude oil prices have been all over the map this session ahead of the meeting of the 15-nation OPEC cartel.  Crude reversed an early morning rally, following a report that OPEC is considering increasing crude production by as much 500,000 barrels a day.  This comes a day after President Trump increased pressure on OPEC by demanding the cartel “must get prices down now.”  Crude traded as high as $71.75 and then sold off down to $70.23 after the report was released.  Currently it is trading at $71, up $0.69 (1%).  Drillers are one of today’s strongest sectors, the OSX is trading higher by 1.16%.

•  The Dow is higher by 0.32%
•  The S&P 500 is higher by 0.14%
•  The Nasdaq is lower by 0.15%
•  The Russell 2000 is lower by 0.28%

Breadth:

•  NYSE advances 1,627 to declines 1,276; new 52-week highs 85 to new lows 64
• Nasdaq advances 1,320 to declines 1,595; new 52-week highs 84 to new lows 31