Market Insights
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Stocks Are Trying to Stabilize Before a Trio of Major Economic Events
Stocks are trying to stabilize before three major economic events that could determine direction in coming months. The S&P 500 rose 0.8 percent between Friday, August 18, and Friday, August 25. It was the first gain in the last four weeks, supported by large-cap...
Market Sputters as U.S. Economy Surges and China Struggles
Stocks declined for a third week as investors grappled with a surging U.S. economy and spreading weakness in China. The S&P 500 slid 2.1 percent between Friday, August 11, and Friday, August 18. More than 90 percent of the index's members lost value, including...
Stocks Fall as Strong Economy Sidelines Goldilocks: Market Trends
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 breaks June high as short-term bearishness grows 20-day moving average accelerates to...
Technical Analysis: Can Caterpillar Hold Its Gains?
Caterpillar has been leading a rally in industrial stocks, but now some traders may expect a pullback. Notice the gap to new record levels on August 1 after earnings beat estimates. CAT pushed to another high the following session but ... For more,...
Options Strategies for Earnings Season and Other Events
Quarterly earnings and other important events have the potential to trigger sudden moves in stock prices. Call and put options can help investors manage the risk of these catalysts by positioning for directional moves or hedging against declines. Key strategies...
Stocks Test Support as Blue Chips Take Leadership From Big Tech
Stocks are testing support as the venerable Dow Jones Industrial Average takes leadership from newer technology companies. The 138-year-old benchmark rose 0.7 percent between Friday, August 4, and Friday, August 11. The Nasdaq-100, on the other hand, fell 1.4 percent....
Tech Languishes Before CPI: Market Trends This Week
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 trying to hold 7/12 closing price. Momentum weakens as 10-day MA falls but longer-term...
Stocks Fall on U.S. Downgrade as a New Month Begins
Stocks began August to the downside as big earnings passed and Fitch Ratings downgraded the sovereign debt of the United States. The S&P 500 fell 2.3 percent between Friday, July 28, and Friday, August 4. It was the index's biggest decline since March, and its...
Chart of the Day: Alphabet Pulls Back After Earnings Rally
Alphabet jumped to a new 52-week high on strong results last week. Now it may be giving trend followers a potential opportunity. The first pattern on today’s chart is the bullish gap on July 26 after revenue beat estimates and its Cloud business surprised to the...
Stocks Are Trying to Stabilize Before a Trio of Major Economic Events
Stocks are trying to stabilize before three major economic events that could determine direction in coming months. The S&P 500 rose 0.8 percent between Friday, August 18, and Friday, August 25. It was the first gain in the last four weeks, supported by large-cap...
Market Sputters as U.S. Economy Surges and China Struggles
Stocks declined for a third week as investors grappled with a surging U.S. economy and spreading weakness in China. The S&P 500 slid 2.1 percent between Friday, August 11, and Friday, August 18. More than 90 percent of the index's members lost value, including...
Stocks Fall as Strong Economy Sidelines Goldilocks: Market Trends
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 breaks June high as short-term bearishness grows 20-day moving average accelerates to...
Technical Analysis: Can Caterpillar Hold Its Gains?
Caterpillar has been leading a rally in industrial stocks, but now some traders may expect a pullback. Notice the gap to new record levels on August 1 after earnings beat estimates. CAT pushed to another high the following session but ... For more,...
Options Strategies for Earnings Season and Other Events
Quarterly earnings and other important events have the potential to trigger sudden moves in stock prices. Call and put options can help investors manage the risk of these catalysts by positioning for directional moves or hedging against declines. Key strategies...
Stocks Test Support as Blue Chips Take Leadership From Big Tech
Stocks are testing support as the venerable Dow Jones Industrial Average takes leadership from newer technology companies. The 138-year-old benchmark rose 0.7 percent between Friday, August 4, and Friday, August 11. The Nasdaq-100, on the other hand, fell 1.4 percent....
Tech Languishes Before CPI: Market Trends This Week
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 trying to hold 7/12 closing price. Momentum weakens as 10-day MA falls but longer-term...
Stocks Fall on U.S. Downgrade as a New Month Begins
Stocks began August to the downside as big earnings passed and Fitch Ratings downgraded the sovereign debt of the United States. The S&P 500 fell 2.3 percent between Friday, July 28, and Friday, August 4. It was the index's biggest decline since March, and its...
Chart of the Day: Alphabet Pulls Back After Earnings Rally
Alphabet jumped to a new 52-week high on strong results last week. Now it may be giving trend followers a potential opportunity. The first pattern on today’s chart is the bullish gap on July 26 after revenue beat estimates and its Cloud business surprised to the...
Fear Could Be Evaporating After Another Cool Inflation Report
Inflation was lower than feared for the third straight month, and investors loved it. December's consumer price index (CPI) shrank 0.1 percent, compared with estimates for an unchanged reading. It followed cooler-than-expected readings for November and October,...
A Soft Landing? Why Stocks May Be Attempting a Turn as 2023 Begins
Stocks began the New Year with gains as investors see the potential for inflation to ease without a recession. The S&P 500 broke a four-week losing streak, rising 1.5 percent in the holiday-shortened period between Friday, December 30. Every major sector advanced,...
Chart of the Day: Is Oracle Attempting a Breakout?
Oracle has performed better than most technology and software companies, and now it may be attempting a breakout. The first pattern on today’s chart is the triangle that took shape in December. Prices ended 2022 slightly above the top, and buyers jumped in yesterday....
Worries About the Fed and Earnings Grew as 2022 Ended: December Recap
Stocks begin the New Year under a cloud of pessimism as investors brace for higher interest rates and lower earnings. The S&P 500 slid 5.9 percent in December, resulting in a 19 percent drop for all of 2022. It was the stock market's worst year since the 2008...
Chart of the Day: Royal Caribbean May Be Cruising Lower
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...
Stocks Fall as Fed Drives Fear About Earnings and a Potential Recession
Stocks fell again last week as the Federal Reserve's tough stance on inflation made investors worry about earnings and a potential recession in 2023. The S&P 500 slid 2.1 percent between Friday, December 9, and Friday, December 16. The Nasdaq-100 fell even more,...
Negatives Are Piling Up in This Year’s Only Positive Sector
Energy stocks are the only positive sector in 2022, but they're ending the year under a cloud of negativity. Crude oil futures (@CL) have fallen 13 percent so far in December, putting them on pace for their biggest drop in over a year. They're down in six of the last...
Technical Analysis: What If Apple Holds This Price Level?
Megacap technology stocks like Apple have dragged on the market amid disruptions in China. But what if the iPhone giant manages to bounce? Could it give the bigger indexes a boost? The main pattern on today’s chart is the $140 level. This price first had importance on...
Attention Amazon Traders! Check Out This Chart
Amazon.com has declined along with the broader Nasdaq-100. But other consumer-facing companies have fared much better. The chart below compares AMZN with competing retailers. It uses percentage-change charts with a six-month interval. Notice how the e-commerce giant...
Key Points About Selling Credit Spreads
The previous post covered debit spreads, when you pay a debit looking for a stock or ETF to move in a certain direction. Credit spreads are just the opposite, with traders collecting premium upfront in hope that the stock won't move a certain way. What a Credit Spread...
This Social Media Upstart Just Got a Lot of Attention in the Options Market
Suddenly the bulls are logging into Pinterest. The social-media upstart had record call volume yesterday as options traders positioned for a potential move higher. The activity came after a report showed growing user traffic. PINS' user base rose 9 percent to 82.4...
Key Points About Trading Vertical Spreads
Traders often expect a stock will move higher or lower. But they might not be sure which strategy to use. Should they buy calls looking for a rally, or puts looking for a drop? Should they buy single options, or spread one contract against another? This post will...
Silver on a Roll as Commodities Gain and Green Energy Takes Off
Silver is in the midst of its longest winning streak in three years as several potentially bullish forces line up. Silver futures (@SI) are rising for the fifth straight week, their longest rally since early 2017. Volume and open interest have increased at the same...
Call Buyers Target a Pair of Obscure Technology Stocks After Quarterly Results
Options traders seem to think two obscure technology stocks are poised for rallies. They first targeted Pinduoduo (PDD), amassing about 15,000 December 39 calls in the Chinese e-commerce firm. Most of the blocks crossed the tape for $0.60 to $0.80. Bottomline...
Options Trader Looking for Happy New Year With Fast Moving Energy Stock
Someone's looking for Marathon Petroleum to keep running into the New Year. Options volume spiked to triple the monthly average in the oil refiner yesterday as a trader rolled a bullish position: About 32,000 January 70 calls were sold for $3.72.A matching number of...
Guess What? The Yield Curve Is Steepening
The yield curve flattened over the summer as fear swept the market. But now as it goes the other way, sentiment may improve in major banking stocks. The yield curve is the relationship between the two-year and 10-year Treasury notes. People buy 10-year notes when...
Massive Options Trade Looks for Bounce in Ailing Sector
Health-care stocks have been lagging all year, but yesterday an options trader looked for quick a bounce. Check out the huge call spread in the SPDR Health Care ETF (XLV): 100,000 25-October 91 calls were purchased for $0.42.100,000 25-October 92 calls were sold for...
Key Lessons From TradeStation’s Latest Options Training Session
Last weekend, TradeStation's education team hosted a knowledge-packed training event on options. It was a great opportunity for someone like me, a perennial stock trader, to learn more about calls and puts. In case you missed it, I took notes. Here are some of the key...
Mnuchin Hammers Greenback in Major Policy Shift
Twenty-three years of policy out the window? That's what might have just happened. After all, government officials have spoken in favor of a strong U.S. dollar since Robert Rubin's tenure. Democrat or Republican, economic expansion or recession: It's been the mantra....
Massive Rotation Underway as Optimism Spreads
Some people may confuse energy and utility stocks, but they're not likely to make that mistake right now. Energy's up 4.5% in the last week, compared with a 4.8% drop for utilities over the same time frame. The resulting 9.3 percentage-point difference is the widest...
Bitcoin Volumes Swell as Crypto Goes Mainstream
Bitcoin had its busiest day ever on financial exchanges yesterday as a second major product rolled out. CME's futures (symbol BTC) had volume of more than 1,000 in their first session of trading. Each contract controls 5 coins. Cboe's product (symbol XBT), which...
Stocks Flirt With Highs Amid Strong Economy and Earnings
Stocks flirted with new highs last week as the economy improved and earnings season got underway. The S&P 500 was little changed in the holiday-shortened period between Friday, April 12, and Thursday, April 18. At one point, the index touched its highest level...
Financial ETF Soaring as Sentiment Quickly Turns Positive
Financial stocks are on the move as changing sentiment draws money back to a forgotten corner of the market. The SPDR Financial ETF (XLF) closed at a six-month high yesterday, and has risen 3.5 percent in the last week. That's the biggest gain for any of the 11 major...
Health Care Hammered as Investors Liquidate Safe Havens
Health care stocks got slammed yesterday amid an apparent rotation away from "safe havens." The SPDR Health Care ETF (XLV) dropped 2.05 percent to its lowest price since January 30. While not that might not sound huge, it was the biggest drop relative to the broader...
Media ETF on the Move as Disney Shifts to Streaming Services
Media stocks are on the move as a key player in the space makes an historic shift. The SPDR Communications Services ETF (XLC) has risen almost 4 percent so far in April -- almost twice the performance of the broader S&P 500 over that period. It was also one of...
Semiconductor ETF Reclaiming Leadership in Technology
Chip stocks began April with a bang, potentially ending a year of underperformance against other parts of the technology sector. The Market Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH) is up about 7 percent in the last week, making it the best-performing major fund in the entire...
Bulls Just Got Another Reason to Like the Chip Sector
The good news keeps coming for chip makers, the hottest space in the market over the last month. Digitimes reported this morning that Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM), one of the biggest manufacturers on the planet, just got a flurry of orders. It's now running its...
Homebuilders Gaining as Market Looks for Brighter Future
Housing stocks are on the move as Wall Street looks for a rebound in the industry. The iShares US Home Construction ETF (ITB) is up more than 2 percent in the last week. That makes it one of the best-performing major industry exchange-traded funds (ETFs) over that...
Gold Miner ETF Shines With Market Dreading a Slowdown
The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) is rallying as investors worry about growth and interest rates fall. GDX is up about 2 percent since last Friday, making it one of the best-performing major exchange-traded funds (ETF). The big move occurred on Wednesday after...
Stocks Retreat From Key Level Amid Bad News
Stocks just had their worst week of the year, retreating from a key resistance level amid a string of bad news. The S&P 500 fell 2 percent between Friday, March 1, and Friday March 8. It was the biggest drop since the crescendo of selling before Christmas. The...