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Bulls in the China Shop? Options Surge Before Big Events
by David Russell | Jul 10, 2024
Options traders are getting active in Chinese technology companies like Baidu before two potentially important events. The first catalyst is at 8:30 a.m. ET tomorrow, when the U.S. Labor Department releases the consumer price index (CPI). It's the first reading of...
The Nasdaq-100 Rebounds After a Brutal January: What Does the Chart Say?
by David Russell | Feb 3, 2022
The Nasdaq-100 has rebounded following a sharp drop. It's a good time to consider where things stand with the tech-heavy index. First, Wednesday's close represented almost exactly a 50 percent retracement of the decline from December 28 through January 24. Second,...
Energy Stocks Aren’t The Only Companies Riding the Inflationary Trend Higher
by David Russell | Feb 2, 2022
Inflation is a key theme for investors this year. Aside from lifting energy stocks, it's also boosting a lesser known corner of the market: agriculture. Companies like Deere (DE), Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and Mosaic (MOS) have outperformed the market by a wide...
Options Alert: Giant Neutral Strategy Targets Intel Following Sharp Drop
by David Russell | Feb 1, 2022
Intel's been dropping for nine months, but one big options trader is looking for the semiconductor giant to stabilize. This large transaction involving short calls and short puts occurred yesterday as INTC tried to hold its lowest level in over a year: 30,000 March 50...
Stocks Cling to Support as the Fed’s Hawks Go to Work. Growth Heads for Worst Month in 20 Years.
by David Russell | Jan 31, 2022
Stocks clung to support last week as investors brace for a series of rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 spent most of the period in negative territory, but rallied sharply in the final 90 minutes on Friday, January 28. That resulted in a 0.8 percent...
Don’t Fight the Fed? Powell’s New Hawkishness Is Making Investors Reprice the Stock Market
by David Russell | Jan 28, 2022
Stocks are tumbling as the Federal Reserve's tighter monetary policy forces investors to rethink the entire stock market. The S&P 500 is down 9.2 percent in January, its worst month since coronavirus shuttered the economy in March 2020. High-multiple growth stocks...
Energy Stocks Are Crushing the Market in 2022 and Nothing Else Is Even Close
by David Russell | Jan 26, 2022
Oil and gas stocks are crushing the market this year, and no other sector even comes close. The SDPR Energy Fund (XLE) has advanced 17.7 percent since the end of December. It's the only major sector fund in the green, flying past the S&P 500's 8.6 percent decline....
Top Stocks for Options Trading
Technology & Communication
Chart of the Day: Here’s a Rare Breakout in the Technology Sector
by David Russell | Mar 28, 2022
Most technology stocks remain well off their highs in 2022, but not Juniper Networks. The maker of routers and switches closed at its highest level in almost 11 years last week. The breakout followed some interesting patterns that may anticipate a bigger move. First,...
Bull Markets Climb a Wall of Worry, Once Again
by David Russell | Jul 1, 2019
"Bull markets climb a wall of worry." The old adage proved true again today as the S&P 500 breaks out to new highs. Investors ended last week fearing higher tariffs against China before the G20 Summit in Osaka. Then President Trump withdrew the threat after...
Disney, Microsoft Led the Dow Higher in the Second Quarter
by David Russell | Jun 28, 2019
Today's the last day of the second quarter. A pair of blue-chip disruptors led the market higher during the period. Walt Disney (DIS) and Microsoft (MSFT) were the best performers in the Dow Jones Industrial Average since the end of March. DIS surged 25 percent as it...
Videogame Bulls Fight for Key Level: Options Recap
by David Russell | Jun 18, 2019
Videogame stocks are still hurting from last year's selloff in tech. But now options traders are defending a key level in major stock. We're talking about Activision Blizzard (ATVI), which makes titles like Call of Duty, Candy Crush and Overwatch. The stock briefly...
Social Media Giant Plans Big Crypto Announcement Today
by David Russell | Jun 18, 2019
The world's biggest social network is poised to bring cryptocurrencies to the mainstream of business with a major announcement today. Multiple news sources report that Facebook (FB) will publish details on "Project Libra." The new cryptocurrency will enable money...