Market Insights
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Is a Santa Rally Coming After Bears Retreat?
by David Russell | Dec 1, 2025
Some investors may see potential for a “Santa rally” after stocks recovered from a sharp pullback last month.
Key Options Knowledge: Time, Volatility and Different Kinds of Value
by David Russell | Aug 25, 2024
Options confuse a lot of investors because several factors impact their value. Unlike stocks, they don’t just go up and down based on supply and demand. This post will explain three of the most important concepts you need to get started: time, volatility and intrinsic...
Measuring Relative Performance Using Multi-Data Charts
by TradeStation | Aug 23, 2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDhlcVDi93A&ab_channel=TradeStation Multi-data charts can be a value tool for active traders looking to gain a decisive edge in the markets. Whether you’re comparing relative performance, analyzing correlations, or performing a...
Volatility’s Historic Rise and Fall: Market Trends This Week
by David Russell | Aug 22, 2024
Downloads are available here. TradeStation’s ideas on TradingView are available here. Register here for our next “State of the Market,” on Monday, 8/26. Sizing Up the S&P 500 S&P 500 holds above 8/1 high, is now +1.8% in August Advance/Decline Line...
Options Alert: Bears Could Be Shopping at Troubled Retailer
by David Russell | Aug 21, 2024
Kohl's has been under pressure for years, and one big trader may see further downside into next month. Check out this unusual options activity in the retailer: Roughly 15,000 23-August 20 puts were sold for $0.44. A matching number of September 19 puts were bought for...
Stocks Rebound Sharply as Good News Punishes the Bears
by David Russell | Aug 19, 2024
Stocks just had their best week of the year as a string of good news erased worries about a recession. The S&P 500 rose 3.9 percent between Friday, August 9, and Friday, August 16. It was the biggest gain since early November. Major growth stocks like Nvidia...
Could Sentiment Finally Turn? Market Trends This Week
by David Russell | Aug 15, 2024
Downloads are available here. TradeStation’s ideas on TradingView are available here. Check out our next “State of the Market,” on Monday, 8/12. (Time now at at 2 p.m. ET.) Sizing Up the S&P 500 S&P 500 rebounds to 50-day MA, erasing more than 50% of...
Top Stocks for Options Trading
Technology & Communication
Chart of the Day: CrowdStrike Is in a Small Club
by David Russell | Apr 11, 2025
The broader market has been tumbling for months, but CrowdStrike has stood its ground. The first pattern on today’s chart is the March 10 low of $303.79. While the Nasdaq-100 has revisited levels from over a year ago, CRWD has held lows from a month prior. Support at...
Reopening Stocks Like Banks and Commodities Are Crashing After the Fed Turned Hawkish
by David Russell | Jun 17, 2021
The Federal Reserve turned hawkish yesterday, and reopening stocks are paying the price today. Steelmakers, energy drillers, banks and transports lead the selling. Copper futures are down more than 8 percent this week, their biggest drop since March 2020. Corn,...
Check Out This Bullish Options Activity in Giant Semiconductor and Mining Stocks
by David Russell | Jun 15, 2021
The two largest companies in their industries had bullish options activity today: Intel and Vale. Intel (INTC), the world's biggest semiconductor maker, saw heavy call buying shortly after the opening bell. Traders initially purchased the 25-June 62 calls for $0.10 to...
This Major Index Is Breaking Out as Value Stocks Pause: Chart Study
by David Russell | Jun 15, 2021
Value stocks and reopening plays have been the main themes in 2021, but now the bulls seem to be returning to Big Tech and the Nasdaq-100. The yellow histogram on this chart compares the 21-day return of NDX against the S&P 500. (It uses our Smart Relative...
Growth Stocks Regain the Lead as Investors Embrace a Dovish Fed
by David Russell | Jun 14, 2021
Most of 2021 has focused on value stocks as the economy reopening from coronavirus, but last week investors returned to growth. The S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent between Friday, June 4, and Friday, June 11. The Nasdaq-100 climbed 1.2 percent, its biggest outperformance...




