Market Insights
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Oil and War Are Not the Only Stories in the Market
by David Russell | Jun 23, 2025
Is a crypto revolution taking place as attention focuses on war in the Middle East?
Layoffs Increase, Potentially Welcome News for the Federal Reserve
by David Russell | Nov 10, 2022
Layoffs are a new trending theme, which is potentially welcome news for the Federal Reserve. The Google Trends chart below shows interest in the term "layoff" tripling since the beginning of October. It's now back to its highest level since May 2020 near the start of...
Chart of the Day: Can Anything Stop Hess?
by David Russell | Nov 7, 2022
Energy remains the top-performing sector this year. Today we're focusing a member of the group with potentially classic breakout behavior: Hess. The first pattern on the oil and gas stock's chart is the is the October 26 surge above $137. That was the previous...
Investors Survive a Turbulent October, Shifting to New Stocks as Interest Rates Climb
by David Russell | Nov 1, 2022
Stocks held their ground during a turbulent October as investors focused on new areas that could lead in the market's next cycle. The S&P 500 rose 8 percent, advancing for the first time in three months. The move came after a higher-than-expected inflation report...
Stocks Keep Climbing Before the Fed: Will Jerome Powell Finally Slow Down?
by David Russell | Oct 31, 2022
Will Jerome Powell finally hit the brakes? Stocks could be moving like the Federal Reserve is near the end of its rate-hiking cycle. The S&P 500 rose 4 percent between Friday, October 21, and Friday, October 28. It was the second weekly gain of at least 4 percent,...
Options Traders Look for Marathon Oil to Keep Running
by David Russell | Oct 25, 2022
Marathon Oil is the third-best performer in the S&P 500 this year, and options traders seem to think it will keep running. Check out this large complex trade in the Houston-based energy driller: 15,423 January 24 calls were sold for $6.70.15,423 January 21 puts...
Stocks Try to Bounce Before a Huge Week of Earnings
by David Russell | Oct 24, 2022
Stocks are trying to bounce as investors await key earnings and hope for slower rate hikes. The S&P 500 rose 4.7 percent between Friday, October 14, and Friday, October 21. It was the biggest weekly gain since June, with every major sector advancing. More than...
Top Stocks for Options Trading
Technology & Communication
Options Alert: Call Volume Grows as Salesforce.com Nears Highs
by David Russell | May 9, 2023
Major technology stocks like Apple and Microsoft jumped on quarterly results. Will peer Saleforce.com make a similar move? Marc Benioff's provider of cloud-based marketing software is up 49 percent this year after a sharp selloff in 2022. It has paused over the last...
Is the Glass Half Full in Chip Stocks as Tariff Worries Fade?
by William Owens | Sep 10, 2019
Chip stocks are pushing old highs as investors seem to expect better news for one of the market's most traded industries. The Market Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH) closed 2 percent below its all-time high yesterday. It's also up 5.8 percent in the last month, more...
A Wave of IPOs Is Building, Led by WeWork and SmileDirectClub
by David Russell | Sep 5, 2019
Volatility is fading this month, just as a wave of companies looks to go public. Prominent firms including WeWork (WE) and SmileDirectClub (SDC) are expected to raise more than $1 billion each in their initial public offerings (IPOs). Combined with other big names...
Apple Slips From Top Spot as Volatility Spikes: August at TradeStation
by David Russell | Aug 30, 2019
Volatility spiked in August, shifting attention away from individual stocks and toward the indexes. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) was the busiest symbol on TradeStation since the end of July, ending a four-month reign at the top by Apple (AAPL). Other index-linked...
Retailers Rebound as Earnings Season Ends on a Strong Note
by David Russell | Aug 23, 2019
Retail stocks rebounded from a selloff last week as investors shrugged off tariff fears and looked for strong earnings into the holidays. Target (TGT), Home Depot (HD), Lowe's (LOW) and Nordstrom (JWN) are among the market's biggest gainers in the last week. Some had...





