Market Insights
Opportunity knocks for those with trading in their DNA.
Curiosity creates opportunity. Insights create strategy. Born traders create their destiny.
Stocks
Options
Futures
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...
Fed Suggests a Pause as AI Sweeps the Nasdaq: Market Trends This Week
by David Russell | Mar 23, 2023
Downloads available here and here. Anchored VWAP and Keltner pullback here. Register for Market Trends here. Sizing Up the S&P 500 S&P 500 sitting between 200-day and 50-day MAsMACD inching higherWeak U.S. dollar, lower yields are...
Technical Analysis: Will Tesla Shares Drive Higher?
by David Russell | Mar 21, 2023
Tesla more than doubled between January and mid-February. It retraced almost half that move last month and is now trying to bounce. Will the move continue? The first pattern on today’s chart is the 50-day moving average, which the electric-car maker tested and held at...
Growth Comeback? Nasdaq Surged Last Week Amid Banking Scares
by David Russell | Mar 20, 2023
Stocks face a confusing mix of positives and negatives, but the biggest story could be an unexpected surge in the Nasdaq-100. The technology-heavy index rallied 5.8 percent between Friday, March 10, and Friday March 17. In absolute terms, it was the biggest weekly...
Stocks Try to Hold as Bank Fears Drive Volatility: Market Trends This Week
by David Russell | Mar 16, 2023
Downloads available here and here. Anchored VWAP and Keltner pullback here. Register for Market Trends here. Sizing Up the S&P 500 S&P 500 tries to hold 50% retracement of the move between October low and February high.Prices try to remain...
Chart of the Day: Tight Consolidation in Semiconductor Equipment Stock
by David Russell | Mar 14, 2023
Semiconductors have outperformed lately as investors get excited about demand from artificial intelligence (AI). Today’s chart considers equipment supplier Lam Research . The first pattern is the rising 50-day simple moving average. LRCX has consolidated in a tight...
Rate Fears and Bank Failures Have Sent The Stock Market on a Wild Ride
by David Russell | Mar 13, 2023
Stocks are making wild moves as investors pivot from worries about rate hikes to bank failures. The S&P 500 dropped 4.5 percent between Friday, March 3, and Friday, March 10. It was the biggest weekly decline since mid-September. Ninety seven percent of of the...
Top Stocks for Options Trading
Technology & Communication
Big Technology Companies Report Earnings Soon
by David Russell | Jul 18, 2024
Second quarter earnings season has begun. Financials have already reported, and attention will soon turn to major technology companies like Microsoft and Apple. This article will cover some key dates and recent news on these stocks....
Stocks Keep Rising as U.S. and China Formalize Key Trade Deal
by David Russell | Dec 16, 2019
Stocks rose to new highs last week as China and the U.S. formalized a trade deal, easing tensions between the world's two largest economies. The S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent between Friday, December 6, and Friday, December 13. It was the 10th positive week in the last...
Risk Appetite Sweeps Market as Powell Freezes Interest Rates
by David Russell | Dec 12, 2019
Optimism is spreading in the stock market as the Federal Reserve freezes interest rates. Companies that benefit from stronger global growth rose yesterday after the central bank kept interest rates unchanged. Those include semiconductors, emerging markets, materials...
Roku and Tesla Dominate Activity: November at TradeStation
by David Russell | Nov 29, 2019
A pair of heavily traded technology stocks dominated activity at TradeStation this month amid a flurry of news. Streaming-video stock Roku (ROKU) was the busiest symbol across our accounts, eclipsing even the market-tracking SPDR S&P 500 fund (SPY) and Apple...
Call Buyers Target a Pair of Obscure Technology Stocks After Quarterly Results
by David Russell | Nov 26, 2019
Options traders seem to think two obscure technology stocks are poised for rallies. They first targeted Pinduoduo (PDD), amassing about 15,000 December 39 calls in the Chinese e-commerce firm. Most of the blocks crossed the tape for $0.60 to $0.80. Bottomline...



