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Stocks Finish October in the Red as Big Tech Breaks Lower
by David Russell | Nov 1, 2024
Stocks just declined for the first time in six months, thanks to weak guidance from Microsoft and Meta Platforms. The S&P 500 spent most of October above the level where it ended September. However it plunged in the final session, giving the index a 0.7 percent...
Diagnosing the Coronavirus Selloff: Just How Bad Is It?
by David Russell | Dec 3, 2022
Editor's note: This article was originally published on February 25, 2020. Stocks continued their selloff on Tuesday as coronavirus spreads around the world. Here are some facts on what it means for your money. First, this pullback is now a "big one." The S&P 500...
One Bearish Story After Another Seems to Be Hitting Crude Oil
by David Russell | Dec 3, 2022
Editor's note: This article was originally published on January 22, 2020. Energy may be resuming its downtrend as one bearish story after another piles up. Crude oil futures (@CL) are down for the third straight week. That's the longest losing streak since they last...
Options Alert: Can DoorDash Keep Delivering for the Bulls?
by David Russell | Dec 2, 2022
DoorDash jumped earlier in the week, and one big options trader seems to think the move will continue. Check out this large transaction in the food-delivery company: 25,000 December 35 calls were sold for $22.10.35,000 February 45 calls were purchased at almost the...
Technical Analysis: Hotel Giant Could Be Attempting a Breakout
by David Russell | Dec 1, 2022
Marriott has gone essentially nowhere since the pandemic began almost three years ago. But now the hotel giant could be getting ready to move. The first pattern on today's chart is the tight consolidation over the past three weeks. Notice how MAR has stayed above its...
Stocks Just Did Something For the 1st Time Since Bear Market Began: November Recap
by David Russell | Dec 1, 2022
Stocks just completed back-to-back positive months for the first time in over a year as investors look for the Federal Reserve to slow aggressive interest-rate hikes. The S&P 500 rose 4 percent in November following an 8 percent surge in October. (The last set of...
Stocks Eye Key Resistance as the Fed Looks to Slow Interest Rate Hikes
by David Russell | Nov 28, 2022
Stocks are eying key resistance as the market attempts its second straight positive month. The S&P 500 rose 1.5 percent in the holiday-shortened week between November 18 and November 25. The index is up 4 percent so far in November. If the gains hold through...
Top Stocks for Options Trading
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...

These Were the Top Symbols on TradeStation in May as the Nasdaq Surged
by David Russell | May 29, 2020
The Nasdaq-100 rallied in May, and TradeStation clients played the move with several stocks and exchange-traded funds. Seven of the 10 most popular symbols on our platforms this month traded on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange or tracked its index. Some were new to the list....

E-Commerce and the Cloud Have Taken Over the World: Earnings Season Recap
by David Russell | May 21, 2020
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...

Tech Keeps Beating Estimates as Lockdown Drives Growth: Earnings This Week
by David Russell | May 14, 2020
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
by David Russell | May 13, 2020
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...