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After Months of Weakness, Are Megacaps Ready for a Comeback?
by David Russell | Sep 11, 2024
Megacap growth stocks have lagged for a few months, but some investors may see potential for the tide to turn. The Nasdaq-100 led the market in the first half of 2024, powered by AI stocks like Nvidia (NVDA). It stalled in July as money shifted into sectors like real...
Stock Investors Could Gain Optimism as Fed Officials Eye Smaller Hikes
by David Russell | Nov 21, 2022
Conditions may be improving in the stock market as investors prepare for a busy week before the homestretch of the year. The S&P 500 slid 0.7 percent between Friday, November 11, and Friday, November 18. The index held its ground following a rally of almost 6...
Positive Inflation News Propels the Nasdaq Higher: Finally a Turn?
by David Russell | Nov 14, 2022
Stocks jumped last week on signs inflation may finally be coming under control. The S&P 500 rose 5.9 percent between Friday, November 4, and Friday November 11. It was the biggest weekly gain since June, with 95 percent of the index's members advancing. The...
Art of TradeStation: Go Deeper With Market Breadth
by David Russell | Nov 14, 2022
Market breadth analyzes the strength of the overall market by showing how stocks are performing in aggregate. It's a kind of technical analysis that looks deeper than the simple price performance of market-cap weighted major indexes like the S&P 500 and...
Chart of the Day: Does the S&P 500 Have Lessons From History?
by David Russell | Nov 11, 2022
Yesterday's CPI report was a reminder that, despite how it feels, the inflation crisis might not last forever. This raises the question of how to think about the Federal Reserve, and makes us look back to previous moments in history. The most relevant precedent could...
Layoffs Increase, Potentially Welcome News for the Federal Reserve
by David Russell | Nov 10, 2022
Layoffs are a new trending theme, which is potentially welcome news for the Federal Reserve. The Google Trends chart below shows interest in the term "layoff" tripling since the beginning of October. It's now back to its highest level since May 2020 near the start of...
Chart of the Day: Can Anything Stop Hess?
by David Russell | Nov 7, 2022
Energy remains the top-performing sector this year. Today we're focusing a member of the group with potentially classic breakout behavior: Hess. The first pattern on the oil and gas stock's chart is the is the October 26 surge above $137. That was the previous...
Top Stocks for Options Trading
Technology & Communication
Technology Rebounds as New Companies Rally In the Sector
by David Russell | Sep 5, 2023
Technology stocks are rebounding from a weak August as investors target a widening swath of companies like Intel and Western Digital. The S&P 500 rose 2.5 percent between Friday, August 25, and Friday, September 1. But technology stocks rallied 4.4 percent, their...
Chart Study: Do You Know This Chipmaker Getting Close to Record Highs?
by David Russell | Apr 26, 2021
Micron Technology (MU) has stalled after a big rally. Is it time to buy the dip? The first pattern on the memory-chip maker's chart is the oversold condition on stochastics. Given its current uptrend, strong fundamentals and positive macro backdrop (GDP +6%), that...
Four Key Options Strategies to Know With the Biggest Week of Earnings Season About to Begin
by David Russell | Apr 22, 2021
Next week is the biggest week of earnings season. More than one-third of the S&P 500's members announce results, including the biggest companies like Apple. This blog post will focus on options strategies that can help stock investors during earnings season. It...
Netflix Reports Earnings Tonight: Will It Finally Break Out?
by David Russell | Apr 20, 2021
Netflix stock has gone nowhere since the summer. But that could change when it reports earnings tonight. The streaming-video giant was one of the first companies to recover when coronavirus forced millions into lockdown last year. It was also one of the first stocks...
Media Giant May Be Attempting a Bull-Flag Breakout: Chart Study
by David Russell | Apr 19, 2021
Comcast has pulled back after making a new high last month, and now it could be turning upward again. The media giant battled against a downward-sloping trend line running from March 16 through last Wednesday. But it ended last week breaking above it. Second, notice...