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Options Alert: Bears Could Be Active in Social Media Stock
by David Russell | Sep 10, 2024
Snap plunged on weak results last month, and some options traders may be targeting further downside. Check out this unusual activity from yesterday in the social-media stock: More than 29,000 November 6 puts traded, mostly for $0.17. About 16,000 December 8 puts...
Essential Options Knowledge: Time, Volatility and Different Kinds of Value
by David Russell | Dec 31, 2022
Options confuse a lot of investors because several factors impact their value. Unlike stocks, they don't just go up and down based on supply and demand. This post will explain three of the most important concepts you need to get started: time, volatility and intrinsic...
Chart of the Day: Royal Caribbean May Be Cruising Lower
by David Russell | Dec 19, 2022
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
by David Russell | Dec 19, 2022
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,...
Art of TradeStation: Getting Ready for Earnings Season
by David Russell | Dec 19, 2022
Earnings season is a key time because it lets the market assess the finances of individual companies and whole industries. Earnings season is also a time of increased volumes and price movements, creating potential opportunities for investors and active traders. While...
Negatives Are Piling Up in This Year’s Only Positive Sector
by David Russell | Dec 12, 2022
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?
by David Russell | Dec 11, 2022
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...
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Technology & Communication
Options Alert: Bearish Traders Could Be Sticking With Western Digital
by David Russell | Oct 7, 2022
Western Digital tried to bounce after a big drop, but the bears don't seem to be going away. Check out this unusual options activity in the maker of data-storage products: A block of 7,500 October 36 puts was sold for $2.05.A trader bought an equal number of October...
Tesla and Apple Leap After Stock Splits. Will Amazon.com Follow?
by David Russell | Aug 31, 2020
Apple and Tesla jumped to new highs today after splitting their stocks. Will other big Nasdaq companies like Amazon.com follow? AAPL rose more than 3 percent and TSLA spiked over 13 percent. Their gains helped lift the the Nasdaq-100 to its ninth record level in the...
Apple and Tesla Are Splitting Their Shares. Here Are Key Details for Stock and Options Traders
by David Russell | Aug 28, 2020
Apple and Tesla are about the split their shares. Here are the key details you need to know. Both operations take effect using the official closing price on Friday, August 28. (The cutoff is technically 8 p.m. ET.) Investors with positions in the stock or options will...
Stocks Reclaim Old Highs, Led by Breakouts in Apple and Tesla
by David Russell | Aug 24, 2020
Stocks pushed back above their pre-Covid highs last week, with big technology companies like Apple and Tesla leading the charge. The S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent between Friday, August 14, and Friday, August 21. It was the index's fourth straight positive week,...
E-Commerce Breakouts! Target and JD.com Explode Higher: Earnings This Week
by David Russell | Aug 21, 2020
If you want to know the week that e-commerce officially took over the world, this might have been it. Companies including Minneapolis-based Target (TGT), Beijing-based JD.com (JD) and Singapore-based Sea (SE) rode strong digital trends to new record highs. Meanwhile,...