Market Insights
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Why Do Stocks Move? Learn 7 Catalysts That Drive Price Action in the Market
by David Russell | Sep 21, 2025
The stock market includes thousands of companies in scores of industries and groupings. While they may go up and down for any reason any day, there are underlying patterns behind price movement. This article considers seven basic catalysts for stock movement. These go...
Stock Gains Widen as Investors Hope for Lower Inflation
by David Russell | May 13, 2024
Money is flowing back into stocks as investors hope for a better inflation report this week. The S&P 500 rose 1.9 percent between Friday, May 3, and Friday, May 10. It was the third straight positive week. More than four-fifths of the index's members advanced,...
The Basics of Options
by David Russell | May 12, 2024
Options are an important tool for many retail investors. They can either replace trading shares, or make it easier to position oneself in stocks. Let’s consider the first things options traders need to know. An Option’s Price Is Usually Called ‘Premium’ There are some...
Memory Tricks for Options Greeks Like Delta, Gamma and Vega
by David Russell | May 12, 2024
Options are complex instruments that can swing sharply in value. Traders may find the moves confusing, so this article will help explain key "Greeks" -- some of the most important factors impacting the price of options. Greeks are Greek letters used in complicated...
Bullish, Neutral, Even Bearish: 3 Ways Options Traders Can Use Covered Calls
by David Russell | May 10, 2024
Covered calls are one of the most common strategies for options traders. While many investors have heard of them, they may not realize that covered calls are highly versatile. This article will cover how the method can be bullish, neutral and even bearish. First,...
Calm Returns as Rate Fears Subside: Market Trends This Week
by David Russell | May 9, 2024
Downloads are available here. TradeStation’s ideas on TradingView are available here. Register for Market Trends here. Sizing Up the S&P 500 S&P 500 back above 50-day MA. MACD turns higher More index members above 20-day MA than above...
Bullish and Bearish: Key Points About Vertical Option Spreads
by David Russell | May 8, 2024
Vertical spreads are one of the most common strategies in the options market because they can generate leverage with limited risk. This article will consider key points about bullish and bearish spreads. Vertical spreads involve two "legs" on the same underlier to...
Top Stocks for Options Trading
Technology & Communication
Chart of the Day: Is Verizon Weak in a Strong Market?
by David Russell | Nov 11, 2024
The S&P 500 just had its biggest weekly rally in a year, but Verizon Communications didn’t participate. Are the bears moving in? The first pattern on today’s chart is the trio of drops following the last three quarterly reports. Those may reflect ... For more,...
Chinese Stocks Are Crashing. Here’s Why It Could Be Good Luck for U.S. Investors
by David Russell | Mar 25, 2021
Most investors know that big Nasdaq stocks have struggled lately. They may be less aware of the carnage in Chinese markets. The iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) has dropped 8 percent so far in March. That puts it on pace for the worst month in the last year. It also...
Sports Betting Is Back in Focus with NCAA Finals and MLB Weeks Away
by David Russell | Mar 24, 2021
NCAA basketball is reaching its finale with the baseball season about to start. It's a great time revisit companies with exposure to sports betting. Led by stocks like Penn National Gaming (PENN) and DraftKings (DKNG), sports-betting is a new industry. It was made...
Is the Nasdaq Ready to Bounce? Key Things to Know after Last Week’s Pullback
by David Russell | Mar 22, 2021
Stocks pulled back last week, but there are signs that the bulls remain in control. The S&P 500 fell 0.8 percent, while the Nasdaq-100 slid just 0.5 percent. It was the first time in five weeks that the technology-heavy Nasdaq outperformed the S&P 500. It...
Technical Analysis: Don’t Forget About Chip Stocks
by David Russell | Mar 22, 2021
The Nasdaq is trying to stabilize, which could draw buyers back to semiconductors. Chip stocks like NXP Semiconductors (NXPI), Broadcom (AVGO) and Lam Research (LRCX) were some of the biggest gainers in the Nasdaq-100 last week. That helped push NDX ahead of the...




