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Housing Shows Strength, Even With More Bad Economic News Today

Housing Shows Strength, Even With More Bad Economic News Today

More bad economic news is expected today, but the real story could a rebound in the housing market. Mortgage data for the last four weeks have shown strong demand for home buying. Refinancing normally dominates lending, but now they've swung sharply toward purchases....

Are Options Traders Bearish? Put Volume Spikes in Financial ETF

Are Options Traders Bearish? Put Volume Spikes in Financial ETF

Financial stocks jumped yesterday, triggering a big trade in the options market. The SPDR Financial ETF (XLF) surged 5.2 percent on Tuesday, its biggest rally in more than a month. There was also heavy options volume as 60,000 contracts traded in a single transaction...

Is a Breakout Coming? S&P 500 Takes Off Near a Key Level

Is a Breakout Coming? S&P 500 Takes Off Near a Key Level

Stocks took off last week as investors look for the coronavirus crisis to fade. The S&P 500 rose 3.2 percent between Friday, May 15, and Friday May 22. The index is back to its highest levels since early March and its second straight positive month. Transports had...

E-Commerce and the Cloud Have Taken Over the World: Earnings Season Recap

E-Commerce and the Cloud Have Taken Over the World: Earnings Season Recap

Earnings season is pretty much finished, and the main story wasn't Covid-19. Instead, it was the complete dominance of e-commerce and cloud computing. Megacap Internet companies like Amazon.com (AMZN), Facebook (FB) and Alphabet (GOOGL) climbed on strong results. They...

Bullish or Bearish? A Look at Retail Stocks to Watch

Bullish or Bearish? A Look at Retail Stocks to Watch

Covid-19 continues to wreak havoc on the world economy. Here in the US, some are cautious but optimistic about the future. This week American retailers will be put to the test as earnings for Walmart, Advanced Auto Parts, Kohl's, Home Depot, Target, L Brands, and...

Oil: What a Difference a Month Can Make

Oil: What a Difference a Month Can Make

In any normal year, the action that took place in oil markets this year would be the number one finance story hands down. With the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 has not been a normal year, however. Crude Oil (@CL) saw the front-month futures contract plunge into negative...

Stocks Hold a Key Level Again as the Economy Reopens

Stocks Hold a Key Level Again as the Economy Reopens

Stocks fell last week but held a key level. Attention will now focus on the economy reopening for Memorial Day. The S&P 500 initially tried to rally, only to fall on bearish comments from Dr. Anthony Fauci and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. At one point it...

Tech Keeps Beating Estimates as Lockdown Drives Growth: Earnings This Week

Tech Keeps Beating Estimates as Lockdown Drives Growth: Earnings This Week

Technology stocks continue to lead a small group of companies doing well amid the coronavirus lockdown. Cisco Systems (CSCO), Square (SQ), Logitech (LOGI) and Datadog (DDOG) all reported strong quarterly results over the last week. Several are direct beneficiaries of...

Worried About a Pullback? Here Are Three Go-To Options Strategies

Worried About a Pullback? Here Are Three Go-To Options Strategies

Sentiment has turned more negative this week as investors worry the economy will keep struggling with coronavirus. Let's consider some ways to protect your investments with options. Managing Risk with Collars The first strategy is known as a collar. Say you purchased...