Market Insights
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Key Points About Selling Credit Spreads
by David Russell | Nov 10, 2025
A previous post covered debit spreads, when you pay a debit looking for a stock or ETF to move in a certain direction. Credit spreads are just the opposite, with traders collecting premium up front in hope that the stock won’t move a certain way. What a Credit Spread...
Chip Selloff Hammers Growth Stocks. Is the AI Boom Over?
by David Russell | Apr 22, 2024
Chip stocks like Nvidia led the market to new highs last earnings season. The opposite could be happening this time. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 9.2 percent between Friday, April 12, and Friday, April 19. It was the index's biggest weekly drop in almost...
Rates, Geopolitics Cast Gloom Before Earnings: Market Trends This Week
by David Russell | Apr 18, 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 has retraced about half its move since breaking 2022 high S&P 500 testing bullish gap from...
Energy Stocks Pull Back But Are Still Leading This Year
by David Russell | Apr 17, 2024
Energy stocks have led the market this year, and now they've pulled back. The S&P Select Energy SPDR fund (XLE) jumped to $98.97 last Friday -- the highest level in almost a decade. It pulled back this week and touched $93.73 before bouncing. That was just $0.04...
Options Alert: Traders Position for Potential Drop in Uranium Miner
by David Russell | Apr 16, 2024
Uranium miner Cameco has been stuck at an old high, and one big options trader is bracing for a potential drop as earnings approach. This large transaction was detected yesterday in CCJ, unfolding in several blocks over the course of the afternoon: Some 30,000 May 45...
Stocks Have Had a Healthy Pullback. Will Buyers Step In?
by David Russell | Apr 15, 2024
Stocks have had their biggest pullback since the current rally began. Will buyers step in? The S&P 500 fell 1.6 percent between Friday, April 5, and Friday, April 12. It was the biggest weekly drop since October. The index also touched its 50-day moving average...
Are Rate Cuts Out the Window? Market Trends This Week
by David Russell | Apr 11, 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 in midst of first negative month since October Prices break trendline, rising 21-day exponential...
Top Stocks for Options Trading
Technology & Communication
Tech: Smaller Names Break Out as the ‘Big 3’ Lag
by David Russell | Feb 4, 2025
Technology is the worst-performing sector this year. A lot of the weakness is at the top, but some smaller names are breaking out. Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA) and Microsoft (MSFT) are the three biggest technology stocks, accounting for more than 40 percent of the...
Walmart Hammered as Covid Boom Fades and Commodities Take Off: Earnings This Week
by David Russell | Feb 19, 2021
Walmart cratered this week as investors unloaded stay-at-home stocks and shifted toward commodities. Walmart (WMT) might have generated more revenue than expected, and enjoyed better traffic. However it came at a cost to profits, which missed estimates because of...
Stunner: Intel Is Outperforming Advanced Micro Devices
by David Russell | Feb 17, 2021
Intel or AMD? The question is almost as old as "Coke or Pepsi?" For years, the two have battled for leadership in the semiconductor market and the stock market. Intel mostly led coming out of the financial crisis but started falling behind in 2016. Now, the charts...
Another Huge Week for Cryptocurrencies as Tesla, Mastercard, Twitter Fuel Adoption Wave
by David Russell | Feb 12, 2021
Cryptocurrencies had another huge week as companies like Tesla and Mastercard continue to push digital assets into the mainstream. Bitcoin (BTCUSD) broke out to new highs on Monday after Tesla (TSLA) announced a $1.5 billion purchase. That triggered speculation Apple...
Twitter Steals the Show This Week on Signs of Advertising Breakthroughs
by David Russell | Feb 12, 2021
Twitter is having its best week in six years as its advertising business finally starts to gain traction. Twitter (TWTR) is up 27 percent since Friday, February 5. That makes it the best-performing member of the S&P 500 for the period. It's also the biggest weekly...



