Market Insights
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New Highs Continue in the Stock Market as AI Boom Widens
by David Russell | Mar 4, 2024
Stocks keep rallying as investors look for the AI boom to drive earnings and the broader economy. The S&P 500 rose 0.9 percent between Friday, February 23, and Friday, March 1. The index closed above 5,100 for the first time. Technology led the advance. "We have...
Greek of the Week: Vega
by David Russell | Dec 31, 2022
Editor’s note: This post, part of a four-part series about options Greeks, was originally published on Tuesday, September 4, 2018. So far we’ve reviewed three options “Greeks,” with memory tricks for keeping them straight: Delta: D is for direction.Gamma: G is for...
The Basics of Options
by David Russell | Dec 31, 2022
Options are an important tool for many retail investors. They can either replace trading shares, or make it easier to position oneself in stocks. Let's consider the first things options traders need to know. An Option's Price Is Usually Called 'Premium' There are some...
The Structure of Options Trades
by David Russell | Dec 31, 2022
While options can be traded by themselves, investors often use them in conjunction with other securities. So before going further, let's consider the four basic ways that options trades are structured. You Can Trade Options by Themselves As we learned in a previous...
Buying and Selling Options
by David Russell | Dec 31, 2022
Most clients understand buying and selling stocks. Options are similar, and can be traded in the same brokerage accounts. However, you should know some basic differences. Bid / Ask Spreads Matter A bid/ask spread is the difference between where you can sell a security...
Essential Options Knowledge: Time, Volatility and Different Kinds of Value
by David Russell | Dec 31, 2022
Options confuse a lot of investors because several factors impact their value. Unlike stocks, they don't just go up and down based on supply and demand. This post will explain three of the most important concepts you need to get started: time, volatility and intrinsic...
Chart of the Day: Royal Caribbean May Be Cruising Lower
by David Russell | Dec 19, 2022
Royal Caribbean Cruises drifted higher since the summer, but now it may be rolling over. The first pattern on today’s chart is the level around $61.45, where the leisure stock bottomed in March before proceeding to new lows. RCL peaked around that price on November 15...
Top Stocks for Options Trading
Technology & Communication

Technical Analysis: ON Semi’s Breakout and Pullback
by David Russell | Sep 9, 2022
ON Semiconductor is one of the few chip stocks to hit new highs this summer. It then pulled back along with the rest of the market, and is now bouncing. The first pattern on today's chart is the falling trendline along the peaks of January, March and June. ON broke...

Another Huge Week for Cryptocurrencies as Tesla, Mastercard, Twitter Fuel Adoption Wave
by David Russell | Feb 12, 2021
Cryptocurrencies had another huge week as companies like Tesla and Mastercard continue to push digital assets into the mainstream. Bitcoin (BTCUSD) broke out to new highs on Monday after Tesla (TSLA) announced a $1.5 billion purchase. That triggered speculation Apple...

Twitter Steals the Show This Week on Signs of Advertising Breakthroughs
by David Russell | Feb 12, 2021
Twitter is having its best week in six years as its advertising business finally starts to gain traction. Twitter (TWTR) is up 27 percent since Friday, February 5. That makes it the best-performing member of the S&P 500 for the period. It's also the biggest weekly...

Semiconductor Shortage Squeezes Automakers as Chip Demand Surges Like Never Before
by David Russell | Feb 11, 2021
A shortage of semiconductors is sweeping the economy as demand for connectivity surges in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Companies including General Motors (GM), Ford Motor (F), Apple (AAPL) and Enphase Energy (ENPH) have mentioned difficulties obtaining chips...

Forget About Bitcoin and Tesla. This Forgotten Corner of Technology Is Crushing Both
by David Russell | Feb 9, 2021
3-D printing stocks are flying as investors see huge growth for a revolutionary new segment of the technology space. 3D Systems (DDD), Stratasys (SSYS), ExOne (XONE) and Voxeljet (VJET) have more than doubled so far this year. The gains broke years of sideways...