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Indexes and ETFs
Energy Waffles as Iran Sanctions Draw Near

Energy Waffles as Iran Sanctions Draw Near

The S&P 500 bounced after last week's sharp drop, but oil hasn't been so lucky. Crude oil futures (@CL) closed yesterday at their lowest level in a month. The weakness comes as news events turn potentially bearish for the commodity. Government statistics on crude...

Health Care and Brazil Remain Strong

Health Care and Brazil Remain Strong

A lot of catalysts are vying for attention after last week's sharp drop, but two earlier trends seem to remain intact. First, health-care stocks enjoyed surprising positive results last earnings season. That made the SPDR Health Care ETF (XLV) the best-performing...

Gas, Gold and the S&P: Strategist Review

Gas, Gold and the S&P: Strategist Review

Stocks are in the midst of a terrible month but some other areas are rallying. In this post, we'll take a deeper look, and focus on some recent calls by strategists. First, the S&P 500 (@ES) lost 5.6 percent of its value in the first half of October. If it holds...

History May Favor Bulls This Quarter, Despite Volatility

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...

Guess Who’s Shopping in the Retail Space

Guess Who’s Shopping in the Retail Space

Bears are shopping for downside in the retail space after a rough start to the month. A block of 40,000 December 47 puts was purchased this morning in SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT) for $1.08. It was one of the largest transactions in the entire market. Puts can make...

Nasdaq Gets Slammed as Rates Shoot Higher

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

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...

Emerging Markets? More Like Diverging Markets!

Emerging Markets? More Like Diverging Markets!

A sharp dichotomy has appeared in emerging markets as Asia struggles and oil rallies. The iShares MSCI India ETF (INDA) is down 8 percent in the last two weeks and the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) has declined 2 percent. Meanwhile, the iShares Brazil MSCI ETF...

The Subprime Crash Started a Decade Ago

The Subprime Crash Started a Decade Ago

October 2008, a month that's lived in infamy for many investors, is now a decade in the rear-view mirror. A decade ago today, the S&P 500 slipped under 1100. It was the lowest close in almost four years and kicked off an historic slide that shook confidence in the...