Market Insights
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How to Trade SPY Options
SPDR S&P 500 ETF isn’t just the most active product in the stock market – it’s also the most traded in the options market. Learn more here.
The Economy May Be Accelerating Before the State of the Union and Powell’s Testimony This Week
It's been almost exactly two years since the coronavirus pandemic hammered the global economy. And now things may be finally returning to normal -- just in time for some big events in coming days. Consider some of these reports last week: The Commerce Department...
Russian Attack Triggers Surprise Rally Across the Beaten Down Nasdaq-100
Russia attacked Ukraine early on Thursday. After an initial panic, investors had an interesting response: They piled into software and technology stocks that took a beating over the last two months. Take a company like Microsoft (MSFT), which pushed under $272 in the...
Technical Analysis: Is This Social Media Stock Overbought After an Earnings Rally?
Snap had a sharp rally on February 4 after quarterly results beat estimates. But now its longer-term downtrend may be reasserting itself. The first pattern on today’s chart is the stochastic oscillator. It’s swinging back to the downside after jumping into overbought...
Inflation Good, Inflation Bad: Price Spirals Are Splitting Consumer Stocks
It's the best of times and worst of times for consumer stocks, thanks to the fastest inflation in 40 years. Companies like Kraft Heinz (KHC), Tyson Foods (TSN) and Kellogg (K) have advanced in the last two weeks. In the process they've bucked a selloff in the broader...
Stocks Fall Again as Russia and the Fed Keep the Bears Active
Stocks fell again last week as inflation and geopolitical tensions added to a potentially bearish technical picture for big indexes. The S&P 500 dropped 1.6 percent between Friday, February 11 and Friday, February 18. It was the second straight negative week,...
Markets Are Always Changing. TradeStation Can Help You Keep Up
https://youtu.be/XFpGTDYJHOM?t=90 Growth or value? Fear or greed? Financial markets are always changing. However, conditions can be diagnosed using a handful of key indicators and approaches. This free education video teaches how TradeStation's award-winning platform...
Technology & Communication
Technical Analysis: What If Apple Holds This Price Level?
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 $140 level. This price first had importance on...
History May Favor Bulls This Quarter, Despite Volatility
Stocks are coming off their worst week since March, but history may favor the bulls. After all, we're in the fourth quarter -- a time of the year with a strong bias to the upside. Consider some of these points we crunched from TradeStation's wealth of chart data: The...
Basics of Hedging, Part 3: Buying Vs. Selling Options
We recently outlined protective puts and covered calls as common hedging techniques. This brings us to the important question of selling options versus buying options. To understand the these two basic kinds of transactions, traders need to recognize the difference...
Nasdaq Gets Slammed as Rates Shoot Higher
Stocks began the fourth quarter in the red as interest rates spiked and money streamed out of the technology sector. The S&P 500 slid 1 percent between Friday, September 28, and Friday, October 5. But that was nothing compared with the Nasdaq-100's 3 percent drop...
The Message Behind Yesterday’s Volatility Spike
Yesterday was a reminder for traders who forgot what volatility feels like. The S&P 500 had its biggest drop since June 25, and Cboe's Volatility Index ($VIX.X) had its biggest spike over the same period. Even more impressive, TradeStation data showed 23.6 million...