Wall Street remained focused on the government shutdown early Monday, but it didn't fuel much selling as the Dow Jones industrial average eased 0.1% at the open. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 were up 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively.
X It's been a great start to the year, with the Nasdaq composite up 6.3% through Friday compared to a 9.4% gain for the IBD 50.
The government shutdown went into effect Saturday after the bill was voted down in the Senate. A main sticking point between Republicans and Democrats is an immigration bill sought by the Democrats. Another vote is scheduled today for a three-week funding bill.
General Electric (GE), American Express (AXP) and Apple (AAPL) were early laggards in the Dow. GE and American Express were down a fraction while Apple lost 0.6%.
Meanwhile, all eyes are on Netflix (NFLX) ahead of its earnings report after the close. Q4 profit is seen jumping 173% to 41 cents a share.
Netflix was featured in the latest Earnings Preview column, which highlights potential earnings options trades, but it's not a great candidate because it's extended after a breakout from a base with a conventional entry at 204.48. Nonetheless, it's showing strength, trading tightly and holding near highs ahead of the results. Shares were up nearly 2% Monday morning.
In merger news, two big biotech deals made headlines. Celgene (CELG) struck a deal to acquire Juno Therapeutics (JUNO) for about $9 billion. Shares of Juno soared 39% last week when news of a possible deal was first reported. Celgene will gain access to Juno's promising pipeline of CAR-T cancer drugs, where a patient's immune cells are manipulated to attack cancer.
Shares of Celgene fell more than 1% Monday after falling 3% last week. Shares of Juno jumped 27%.
Meanwhile, shares of Bioverativ (BIVV) soared 62% after Sanofi (SNY) offered to buy the recent Biogen (BIIB) spinoff for around $11.5 billion. Bioverativ's specialty is hemophilia and other blood disorders. Shares of Sanofi lost 4% in early trading.
Elsewhere, Bitcoin continued to bleed after recently volatility. According to data from Coindesk.com, the cryptocurrency was trading around $10,600, down 7%. Since Jan. 6, Bitcoin is down about 38%. Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) and Riot Blockchain (RIOT) are both seeking support at the 50-day moving average.
U.S. crude oil futures started off the week mostly unchanged around $63.34 a barrel, while the 10-year Treasury yield edged lower by 1 basis points to 2.65%.
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