Market Insights
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Options Alert: Put Volume Spikes in PepsiCo
PepsiCo began September with a failed rally, and a big options trade yesterday seemed to target further downside.
Stocks Hold Their Ground But Face a Series of Potential Risks as Ukraine Crisis Rages
Stocks inched higher last week but face a potential minefield of geopolitical risk and economic events in coming days. The S&P 500 rose 0.8 percent between Friday, February 18, and Friday, February 25. It was the first positive week in the last three, but the...
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,...
Technology & Communication
Growth Comeback? Nasdaq Surged Last Week Amid Banking Scares
Stocks face a confusing mix of positives and negatives, but the biggest story could be an unexpected surge in the Nasdaq-100. The technology-heavy index rallied 5.8 percent between Friday, March 10, and Friday March 17. In absolute terms, it was the biggest weekly...
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...