Individuals Institutional

Call toll-free 800.328.1267

Market Insights

Opportunity knocks for those with trading in their DNA.
Curiosity creates opportunity. Insights create strategy. Born traders create their destiny.

Indexes and ETFs
Some Key Funds May Be on the Precipice

Some Key Funds May Be on the Precipice

Volatility's on the rise this month, and three popular ETFs are trying to hang on. The Market Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH), S&P SPDR Financial ETF (XLF) and S&P SPDR Energy ETF (XLE) had all slammed down to apparent support levels earlier in the year. At...

Clients Rush Back to ETFs as Volatility Pops

Clients Rush Back to ETFs as Volatility Pops

Clients are rushing back to exchange-traded funds this month as volatility mounts. Five of the 10 most heavily traded symbols with TradeStation in October are ETFs. That marks a sharp swing from September, when calm market conditions pushed attention toward...

Stocks Cling to Gains After Volatility Shock

Stocks Cling to Gains After Volatility Shock

Stocks are trying to hold their ground after a brutal volatility shock earlier this month. The S&P 500 rose less than 0.1 percent between Friday, October 12, and Friday, October 19 -- its first gain in three weeks. The index is still down more than 5 percent since...

A Key Trend Line May Be at Risk

A Key Trend Line May Be at Risk

Just how much damage has been done to the charts so far this month? The answer may be "quite a lot." As readers of Market Insights know, a trend line has run beneath the S&P 500 all year. It provided a nice entry in late June, but now it may have turned from...

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...

Health Care and Brazil Remain Strong

Health Care and Brazil Remain Strong

A lot of catalysts are vying for attention after last week's sharp drop, but two earlier trends seem to remain intact. First, health-care stocks enjoyed surprising positive results last earnings season. That made the SPDR Health Care ETF (XLV) the best-performing...

Gas, Gold and the S&P: Strategist Review

Gas, Gold and the S&P: Strategist Review

Stocks are in the midst of a terrible month but some other areas are rallying. In this post, we'll take a deeper look, and focus on some recent calls by strategists. First, the S&P 500 (@ES) lost 5.6 percent of its value in the first half of October. If it holds...

History May Favor Bulls This Quarter, Despite Volatility

History May Favor Bulls This Quarter, Despite Volatility

Stocks are coming off their worst week since March, but history may favor the bulls. After all, we're in the fourth quarter -- a time of the year with a strong bias to the upside. Consider some of these points we crunched from TradeStation's wealth of chart data: The...

Guess Who’s Shopping in the Retail Space

Guess Who’s Shopping in the Retail Space

Bears are shopping for downside in the retail space after a rough start to the month. A block of 40,000 December 47 puts was purchased this morning in SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) for $1.08. It was one of the largest transactions in the entire market. Puts can make...