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Nasdaq Powers to New High

Nasdaq Powers to New High

Disclaimer: This post is intended for educational purposes only and should not be considered a recommendation. Most big indexes are still below their highs for the year, but not the Nasdaq-100. The technology-heavy benchmark probed 7,338.8 today, breaking its old peak...

Recent IPOs Glowing Green

Recent IPOs Glowing Green

Tech IPOs may be showing signs of life. Stocks like Huya (HUYA), Pivotal Software (PVTL) and Iqiyi (IQ) rallied hard in May and early June after their initial public offerings (IPOs), only to pull back sharply. But now they're having positive weeks. Does than mean...

How Transports Are Moving in Very Different Directions

How Transports Are Moving in Very Different Directions

How schizophrenic is the transportation sector? Look no further than yesterday's headlines. On one hand, analysts at JPMorgan raised price targets on major railroads like CSX (CSX), Union Pacific (UNP) and Norfolk Southern (NSC). All three inched lower along with the...

Guess Who Out-traded Apple and Facebook Yesterday: Options Recap

Guess Who Out-traded Apple and Facebook Yesterday: Options Recap

Normally big tech companies dominate activity in the options market. But not yesterday. The busiest underliers, after all, are usually companies like Apple (AAPL), Facebook (FB), Micron Technology (MU) and Nvidia (NVDA). But on Wednesday all of those were outdone by a...

An Unexpected Positive in Housing

An Unexpected Positive in Housing

There was a rare green shoot in housing today. Mortgage applications for buying a home rose 7 percent last week (seasonally adjusted), according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. It was the biggest gain since an increase of 10 percent in mid-April. Another report...

Here Come Earnings

Here Come Earnings

It's hard to deny sentiment is building for a strong earnings season. Depending on who you ask, profits are projected to rise more than 20 percent. While the estimates vary, direction is positive because all the research shows consensus figures climbing in recent...

Retail & Railroads: Options Recap

Retail & Railroads: Options Recap

Here's a breakdown of some big options spreads from Tuesday. Both reflected continued optimism about the economy. First, a put ratio spread in the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT): A block of 50,000 27-July 48 puts was bought for $0.36. Some 100,000 27-July 47 puts were...

Traders Doubt Safety of Classic Safe Haven: Options Recap

Traders Doubt Safety of Classic Safe Haven: Options Recap

So much for utilities being a safe haven. The SPDR Utility Fund (XLU) has risen about 6 percent in the last month, making it the top-performing major sector. But yesterday, traders braced for a potential selloff: A block of 75,000 September 50 puts in XLU was bought...

China Trade War Sends Chip Giant on Wild Ride

China Trade War Sends Chip Giant on Wild Ride

One of TradeStation's most actively traded stocks is finding itself at the middle of a trade war. Micron Technology (MU) was the second-busiest symbol among our clients in May and June as management raised guidance. This month, President's Trump's trade war with China...