Hawks at the Federal Reserve keep morphing into doves, hammering the greenback. Several comments from the central bank yesterday expressed a cautious view of interest rates. It started with Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, who warned that economic fears have...
Energy stocks have gone from bad to good in the New Year, and one options trader is looking for the bounce to continue. Check out the activity yesterday in Oklahoma City-based driller Devon Energy (DVN): A block of 20,000 April 28 calls was bought for $1.48 in a new...
"I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in which direction we are moving." - Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Stock trading is risky because even experienced forecasters can struggle to anticipate the market's direction. At...
Stocks just finished their most tumultuous period in years. If there was ever a time for hedging with options, this was it! After all, volatility can be a big pain for investors. You do your research to identify promising companies or exchange-traded funds (ETFs)....
Suddenly small is beautiful in the eyes of investors. Indexes focused on smaller companies, like the Russell 2000 (IWM) or the Nasdaq Composite ($COMPX), have outperformed larger benchmarks like the S&P 500 ($SPX.X) and Dow Jones Industrial Average ($INDU) since...
The U.S. economy has gotten a double dose of good news as 2019 gets underway. Non-farm payrolls had their biggest gain in 10 months, almost doubling forecasters' expectations. But that's not all. The October and November totals were also revised up by 58,000....
Energy's the weakest sector over the long run, and options traders are sticking with that trend. Check out this giant bearish trade in oil-field servicing company Halliburton (HAL): A block of 58,000 22-February 27.50 puts was bought for $1.45. A block of 58,000...
The Nasdaq-100 fell 8.9 percent in December, its worst monthly drop this decade. Not surprisingly, seven of the 10 busiest symbols at TradeStation during the period were somehow associated with the tech-heavy index. Here's the top 10. Nasdaq-related symbols are marked...
Latin America's biggest economy kicked off the New Year with a bang as a pro-business government took power. The iShares Brazil ETF (EWZ) ripped 6.4 percent yesterday, its biggest gain since Jair Bolsonaro effectively won the presidency in early October. Brazil is not...