Education
Energy Waffles as Iran Sanctions Draw Near

Energy Waffles as Iran Sanctions Draw Near

The S&P 500 bounced after last week's sharp drop, but oil hasn't been so lucky. Crude oil futures (@CL) closed yesterday at their lowest level in a month. The weakness comes as news events turn potentially bearish for the commodity. Government statistics on crude...

Basics of Hedging, Part 3: Buying Vs. Selling Options

Basics of Hedging, Part 3: Buying Vs. Selling Options

We recently outlined protective puts and covered calls as common hedging techniques. This brings us to the important question of selling options versus buying options. To understand the these two basic kinds of transactions, traders need to recognize the difference...

Track Dozens of Industries with TradeStation

Track Dozens of Industries with TradeStation

Everyone wants to stay on top of the market. Where are the buyers, and where are the sellers? How do I find areas of strength and weakness? What if I want to see broader groups instead of just individual stocks? This is yet another time that TradeStation's...

Mobile Market Alerts for Trading on the Go

Mobile Market Alerts for Trading on the Go

Are you itching to hit the golf course, lay out on the beach or join your friends for lunch – but worried you'll miss that next big market move? With TradeStation alerts, you can leave the fear of missing out behind! Today we'll talk about setting alerts in the mobile...

How Balance Sheets Tell Company Stories

How Balance Sheets Tell Company Stories

Can reading a balance sheet work like reading a good book? Forget what you might know about financial statements for a moment. Consider instead what a business, any business is really trying to do and never lose sight of it: make a profit. On any day of the week,...

Get the Real Story on Volatility

Get the Real Story on Volatility

Most clients know the VIX measures the cost of options on the S&P 500. Are you aware that TradeStation's award-winning platform can go miles deeper by analyzing all the stocks in the market? Capitalize on our implied-volatility data to determine whether the...

Looking Back on 2008: Lessons from the Crash

Looking Back on 2008: Lessons from the Crash

Last week we marked the 10-year anniversary of the financial crisis. Today we'll look at some of the lessons traders can take from the event for their own use in the future. The first lesson is to recognize and respect price trends. The S&P 500, after all, made...

Nasdaq Gets Slammed as Rates Shoot Higher

Nasdaq Gets Slammed as Rates Shoot Higher

Stocks began the fourth quarter in the red as interest rates spiked and money streamed out of the technology sector. The S&P 500 slid 1 percent between Friday, September 28, and Friday, October 5. But that was nothing compared with the Nasdaq-100's 3 percent drop...

Master Options in Chicago This Month!

Master Options in Chicago This Month!

Are you getting everything you should out of the stock market? If you don't trade options, the answer is probably "no." Everyone has excuses: "Options are too complicated." "They have confusing Greek letters." "They have time decay and may expire worthless." We've...

Emerging Markets? More Like Diverging Markets!

Emerging Markets? More Like Diverging Markets!

A sharp dichotomy has appeared in emerging markets as Asia struggles and oil rallies. The iShares MSCI India ETF (INDA) is down 8 percent in the last two weeks and the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) has declined 2 percent. Meanwhile, the iShares Brazil MSCI ETF...