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
Bullish, Neutral, Even Bearish: 3 Ways Options Traders Can Use Covered Calls
by David Russell | Sep 21, 2025
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,...
Greek of the Week: Vega
by David Russell | Dec 31, 2022
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
by David Russell | Dec 31, 2022
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
by David Russell | Dec 31, 2022
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
by David Russell | Dec 31, 2022
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
by David Russell | Dec 19, 2022
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...
Stocks Fall as Fed Drives Fear About Earnings and a Potential Recession
by David Russell | Dec 19, 2022
Stocks fell again last week as the Federal Reserve's tough stance on inflation made investors worry about earnings and a potential recession in 2023. The S&P 500 slid 2.1 percent between Friday, December 9, and Friday, December 16. The Nasdaq-100 fell even more,...
Top Stocks for Options Trading
Technology & Communication
Chart of the Day: Nvidia and the Midcap Breakout
by David Russell | Mar 11, 2024
Megacap growth stocks like Nvidia have outperformed for years. But traders looking for the trend to change may see more evidence of a shift. Today’s idea considers three charts. The first shows how NVDA rallied 93 percent this year above its previous record high. It...
What You Need to Know as Money Rotates Back to Value Stocks
by David Russell | Sep 26, 2019
A potentially big change tried to continue in the market yesterday. Two weeks ago, a new kind of stocks began to rally: banks, industrials, retailers and small caps. Meanwhile previous outperformers including technology, gold miners and real-estate investment trusts...
Call Buyers Look for a Heavily Traded Chip Stock to Start Running
by David Russell | Sep 24, 2019
Some options traders seem to think one of the market's most active stocks is ready for a rally. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has barely moved for the last month, but a surge of volume yesterday looked for a rally by the end of this week. Traders amassed more than...
Apple’s Releasing New IPhones, But a Lot More Is Happening With the Stock
by David Russell | Sep 10, 2019
Apple is expected to release new iPhones today, but a lot of other things are happening with the tech giant. Wall Street's narrative on the company has shifted toward other initiatives like services and stock buybacks. After all, AAPL's a victim of its own success now...
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...




