Market Insights
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Energy Stocks Pull Back But Are Still Leading This Year
by David Russell | Apr 17, 2024
Energy stocks have led the market this year, and now they've pulled back. The S&P Select Energy SPDR fund (XLE) jumped to $98.97 last Friday -- the highest level in almost a decade. It pulled back this week and touched $93.73 before bouncing. That was just $0.04...
Stocks Try to Bounce as Yields Fall But Global Risks Increase
by David Russell | Oct 16, 2023
Stocks are trying to bounce as investors weigh potential positives against rising global risks. The S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent between Friday, October 6, and Friday, October 13. It was the index's second straight positive week as the fourth quarter gets underway....
Fed Worries Ease Before Earnings: Market Trends This Week
by David Russell | Oct 12, 2023
Downloads are available here. TradeStation’s ideas on TradingView are available here. Register for Market Trends here. Sizing Up the S&P 500 S&P 500 reclaims August 2022 high following payrolls bullish outside day MACD turns positive More...
Options Alert: Call Spread Targets New Highs in AMD
by David Russell | Oct 11, 2023
Advanced Micro Devices has climbed in the last two weeks, and options traders are looking for more gains through mid-November. Heavy volume was detected yesterday in two calls expiring next month. The trades occurred in dozens of blocks between about 1pm and 3pm ET....
Outside Days Can Help Spot Reversals in the Stock Market
by David Russell | Oct 9, 2023
Traders often use candlesticks because they show the fullness of price action over different intervals. That can help spot a pattern called "outside days," which this article will cover. An outside day occurs when a stock trades below the previous session's low and...
Stocks Rebounded Last Week as Investors Put Rate Fears Behind Them
by David Russell | Oct 9, 2023
Stocks clawed higher last week as investors stopped worrying about high interest rates. The S&P 500 rose 0.5 percent between Friday, September 29, and Friday, October 6. At one point the index was down 1.7 percent, but it rallied sharply on Friday after...
Chart of the Day: Will Crude Oil Run Again?
by David Russell | Oct 6, 2023
Crude-oil futures are having their worst week since March, but some traders might think about buying the pullback. The first pattern on today’s chart is the price area around 83.50. It represented the peak in December and April. It’s also near the spot where ... For...
Top Stocks for Options Trading
Technology & Communication

Technology Rebounds as New Companies Rally In the Sector
by David Russell | Sep 5, 2023
Technology stocks are rebounding from a weak August as investors target a widening swath of companies like Intel and Western Digital. The S&P 500 rose 2.5 percent between Friday, August 25, and Friday, September 1. But technology stocks rallied 4.4 percent, their...

Amazon.com vs Meta: Earnings Highlight Confusing Changes as Covid Winds Down
by David Russell | Feb 4, 2022
Amazon.com is flying and Meta Networks crashed: This earnings season is highlighting new divisions between haves and have-nots as America moves away from the coronavirus pandemic. On one side are companies successfully executing their plans: Amazon.com (AMZN),...

The Nasdaq-100 Rebounds After a Brutal January: What Does the Chart Say?
by David Russell | Feb 3, 2022
The Nasdaq-100 has rebounded following a sharp drop. It's a good time to consider where things stand with the tech-heavy index. First, Wednesday's close represented almost exactly a 50 percent retracement of the decline from December 28 through January 24. Second,...

Options Alert: Giant Neutral Strategy Targets Intel Following Sharp Drop
by David Russell | Feb 1, 2022
Intel's been dropping for nine months, but one big options trader is looking for the semiconductor giant to stabilize. This large transaction involving short calls and short puts occurred yesterday as INTC tried to hold its lowest level in over a year: 30,000 March 50...

Taper Tantrum? High Multiple Growth Stocks Take a Hit Before the Big Fed Meeting
by David Russell | Dec 15, 2021
High-multiple growth names crumbled again yesterday as investors brace for tighter monetary policy from the Federal Reserve. Using TradeStation's extensive library of fundamental and technical data, we compared S&P 500 members that fell at least 1 percent on...