Market Insights
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Stocks Snooze Into Big Events Despite New Tariffs
Stocks have been snoozing, but that might change with potentially big news coming soon.
Greek of the Week: Theta
Editor’s note: This post, part of a four-part series about options Greeks, was originally published on Tuesday, August 28, 2018. So far, we’ve looked at delta and gamma. This week, we’ll turn to theta. Theta: T is for “time decay.” Theta measures how...
Greek of the Week: Vega
Editor’s note: This post, part of a four-part series about options Greeks, was originally published on Tuesday, September 4, 2018. So far we’ve reviewed three options “Greeks,” with memory tricks for keeping them straight: Delta: D is for direction.Gamma: G is for...
The Basics of Options
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...
The Structure of Options Trades
While options can be traded by themselves, investors often use them in conjunction with other securities. So before going further, let's consider the four basic ways that options trades are structured. You Can Trade Options by Themselves As we learned in a previous...
Essential Options Knowledge: Time, Volatility and Different Kinds of Value
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...
Chart of the Day: Royal Caribbean May Be Cruising Lower
Royal Caribbean Cruises drifted higher since the summer, but now it may be rolling over. The first pattern on today’s chart is the level around $61.45, where the leisure stock bottomed in March before proceeding to new lows. RCL peaked around that price on November 15...
Technology & Communication
Chart of the Day: Are Chips Losing Their Edge to Software Stocks?
Semiconductor stocks have surged this year, thanks in large part to Nvidia. But they could be losing relative strength to software makers within the technology sector. Today’s main chart focuses on the VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH), which closely tracks the...
Podcast: Looking Beyond Tech for 2020
Software makers and semiconductors have come under pressure recently as investors question their multiples. But unlike a year ago, new sectors like financials and industrials may be coming into favor.
Big Banks and Netflix Surprise to the Upside: Earnings This Week
Earnings season started on a strong foot as major banks reported surprising growth in their core businesses. JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), Citigroup (C), Morgan Stanley (MS), U.S. Bancorp (USB) and PNC Financial (PNC) all beat estimates in the last...
No More Growth? Triple Downgrade Rocks Software Space
Software stocks have been growth darlings for years, but doubts are growing on Wall Street. Yesterday three different investment banks made bearish calls on three different companies: Citi downgraded Adobe Systems (ADBE) to "neutral." The analyst thinks recurring...
FireEye Rallies from Lows, Just in Time for Cybersecurity Month
October is cybersecurity month, and a pioneering stock in the industry has come to life. FireEye (FEYE) has rallied 15 percent in the last two weeks and is having its best month in more than two years. A combination of takeover speculation, improved results and...