Market Insights
Opportunity knocks for those with trading in their DNA.
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History May Favor Bulls This Quarter, Despite Volatility
Stocks are coming off their worst week since March, but history may favor the bulls. After all, we're in the fourth quarter -- a time of the year with a strong bias to the upside. Consider some of these points we crunched from TradeStation's wealth of chart data: The...
Basics of Hedging, Part 3: Buying Vs. Selling Options
We recently outlined protective puts and covered calls as common hedging techniques. This brings us to the important question of selling options versus buying options. To understand the these two basic kinds of transactions, traders need to recognize the difference...
Nasdaq Gets Slammed as Rates Shoot Higher
Stocks began the fourth quarter in the red as interest rates spiked and money streamed out of the technology sector. The S&P 500 slid 1 percent between Friday, September 28, and Friday, October 5. But that was nothing compared with the Nasdaq-100's 3 percent drop...
The Message Behind Yesterday’s Volatility Spike
Yesterday was a reminder for traders who forgot what volatility feels like. The S&P 500 had its biggest drop since June 25, and Cboe's Volatility Index ($VIX.X) had its biggest spike over the same period. Even more impressive, TradeStation data showed 23.6 million...
Cannabis Craze Drives Activity: September at TradeStation
The cannabis craze swept markets in September, with TradeStation clients riding the wave. Canadian marijuana firm Tilray (TLRY) was the third-busiest stock on our platforms this month, catapulting from No. 24 in August. Related companies Canopy Growth (CGC) and Cronos...
A Tough Slog For Banks, With a Happy Ending
There was a day when higher interest rates lifted financials. But not anymore. Selling in the sector has been intense, with 64 of the 67 members of the SPDR Financial ETF (XLF) down so far this week. Banks, insurers and asset managers have all taken a beating. (Don't...
IPOs Keep Coming in September
Initial public offerings (IPOs) are running at their quickest pace in years. Have you been watching? Volume at the end of August was already close to the total for all of 2017, according to data from ClickIPO. In fact, if you include Spotify's (SPOT)'s unusual direct...
Options 101: Hedging With Ratio Spreads
This post is part of an educational series on equity derivatives. Want to learn more? Sign up for our Options Stars 2018 symposium in Chicago next month. Sometimes I love trading options so much I forget they were invented to be used in tandem with stocks. This post...
Your Favorite Sector’s Getting Reshuffled
Everyone loves tech. Did you know the sector's about to get reshuffled? Over the years, "technology" has become an increasingly ambiguous term. What do semiconductors have in common with phone companies? Why should routers and photocopiers get lumped alongside social...