Tag: trader
To Hedge Your Portfolio For Free
An intriguing way to hedge your portfolio’s downside risk for essentially no cost is by using a put spread collar. A large zero-cost put spread collar was placed last week on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY). The trader sold calls and used the proceeds to purchase a put spread. The position will give a […]
Let Price Action Show You What To Do In An Approaching Bear Market
Traders have access to an overwhelming amount of market indicators. But does a trader really need any of these indicators to be successful at trading? At the end of the day, the price determines our loss or profit. Therefore, we should focus our research on price action rather than time lagging indicators or market fundamentals. […]
One Way To Take Advantage Of The Volatility In Tech Stocks
Tech stocks have the started the new year with elevated volatility and quite a bit of selling pressure. The most popular tech index, Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), is down 5% for the year and has seen a handful of large percentage moves already. One strategist is looking to take advantage of the volatility by using […]
Why Smart Investors Use Covered Calls To Profit
Recent market volatility has both put traders on edge and pumped up the volatility in options. Those two usually go hand in hand and they create a great opportunity for longer term investors with a cooler demeanor to capitalize on the current dislocation. One of the best, and most popular approaches, especially among investors that […]
Will Stocks Continue To Rally Despite The Coronavirus Scare?
The stock market can be a crazy place. The unpredictability of the financial markets is what makes them so exciting and challenging for traders (and investors). While the long-term direction of stocks has always been up, there are definitely significant periods of volatility over shorter time frames. For instance, this year we’ve already had a […]
Is The Low Volatility Market At An End?
2019 can be roughly divided into two market regimes. There were periods of high volatility and market choppiness, notably in June, August, and early October. Then, there were the stretches of low and falling volatility – January through May and mid-October through the end of the year. It certainly seemed like January of 2020 was […]
What’s In Store For Chipmakers In 2020?
2019 is at an end, and it was undoubtedly a great year for stocks. The S&P 500 was up over 28% for the year. However, semiconductor companies had an even better year. VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (SMH) was up nearly 62% over the same period. Granted, SMH did plunge sharply at the end of 2018, so it had […]
Where Are Interest Rates Headed In 2020?
One of the big questions for the financial markets as we head into the next decade is where are interest rates going as we kick off a new year. On one hand, the labor market is strong and stock prices are at all-time highs. On the other hand, many other economic indicators are showing a […]
Will December 2019 Be A Repeat Of December 2018 For Stocks?
The stock market is showing its first signs of cracks since October, and investors are starting to wonder if December is going to be a repeat of last year. As a reminder, the S&P 500 was down about 9% a year ago in December after what had been a volatile fourth quarter. Of course, this […]
Every Time This Stock Goes Up $1 This Trader Makes $1.2 Million
One of the more intriguing investment stories in 2019 was the huge jump in government bonds prices. Long-term bonds, in particular, soared higher for a substantial portion of the year, outperforming stocks – and with lower volatility. Stocks have since caught up with and passed bonds (year-to-date), but from a risk-adjusted perspective, bonds have arguably […]
Protection Against A December Volatility Spike
Stock market activity has essentially slowed to a crawl, and many traders are wondering if that’s it for volatility in 2019. Some traders are jokingly wondering if they should take the rest of the year off. It certainly seems like the market isn’t interested in action these days. There are certainly mechanical reasons for the […]
The Latest Cold Front Is Heating Up Natural Gas Options
It’s always funny to read about energy prices going up whenever there’s a cold front. It’s like people forget that there’s such thing as weather and (depending on where you live) it changes with the seasons. As the temperature starts cooling in the fall, you’ll often see headlines like “Heating Oil Prices Up on Colder […]
Are We Headed Back To A Low Volatility Market?
Both 2018 and 2019 have been characterized by periods of choppy markets and higher volatility. It’s been quite the change of pace from 2017, where it seemed like we would never experience market volatility ever again. Of course, nearly everything in the financial markets moves in cycles. Low periods of volatility will inevitably be followed […]
Understanding A Covered Call Strategy
The other day, I wrote about how people are piling into funds, then employ option premium-selling strategies, particularly covered calls or buy-writes. I figure it’s a good time to drill down into exactly what these strategies entail and highlight both the pros and cons. The covered call strategy is one of the most popular options strategies especially among investors that […]
Gold Prices Could Be Headed Much Higher
Although the stock market has had its share of ups and downs over the last couple of months, the price of gold has been surprisingly stable. In August, the gold futures reached $1,500 an ounce. Fast forward to mid-October, and futures are still right around that $1,500 level. Why have gold prices remained elevated despite […]
What’s In Store For Oil Now That Half Of Saudi Arabia’s Production Is Offline?
This week was supposed to be all about the Fed meeting. The September FOMC meeting is the first since July, and quite a bit is riding on what the Fed decides to do with interest rates. It’s one of the most critical FOMC meetings we’ve seen in years. However, the Fed’s thunder was stolen by […]
How To Get Paid An Income By Avid Coffee Drinkers
Coffee is one of those consumable goods that you simply don’t want to mess with. The country may fall into a deep recession. The ocean may rise to levels that engulf the coastlines. A meteor at this moment may be hurtling towards Earth. And yet, it won’t stop coffee drinkers from going to buy their […]
Are Tech Stocks Going To New Highs By Year-End?
The funny thing about stocks this year is that it feels like we’re having a rough year. The last few months have brought quite a bit of volatility to the market, and with it comes the feeling that the stock market is struggling. However, looking at the numbers, you may be amazed to see the […]
Are Bonds Going To Continue To Be The Hottest Asset Class?
The stock market has been plenty volatile over the last couple weeks, but the real story has been what’s going on in the bond market. Many of the financial headlines you see are about the inverted yield curve or the parabolic move in US bonds. Let’s start with the inverted yield curve. What does that […]
What Does The Options Market Say About Interest Rates?
Why are investors so fixated on interest rates? If you follow the financial markets regularly, you’ll notice how laser-focused the investment community is on what the Federal Reserve is doing, how bond markets react, and what it all means for interest rates. But why are interest rates so important? What does a change of a […]
Is Volatility Going To Continue To Plummet This Summer?
July is traditionally a very slow month for the financial markets. Not only is it the prime vacation month for families (most kids go back to school in August), but there’s also the July 4th holiday week. Generally speaking, investors and traders are often far away from the markets at this time of year. Even in […]
A Big Bet That Gold Prices Are On The Move This Summer
With all the talk of interest rates, inflation, and recessions, it’s no surprise that gold has become a popular topic in the financial media. Gold tends to gain popularity among investors when there is uncertainty regarding the economy. More specifically, when there is concern the US dollar is going to become less valuable, gold starts […]
Buying A Covered Call On Gold Miners
Gold is back in the good graces of investors as lower interest rates threaten to devalue the US dollar. Precious metals tend to be in demand as the dollar goes down, and 2019 has been no exception to this rule of thumb. But recently, the price of gold has really taken off. For the month […]
Buying Covered Calls On The World’s Biggest Company
Quick, without looking it up on Google, what’s the world’s largest public company? Did you guess Apple (AAPL) or Amazon (AMZN)? At times recently, you may have been correct. However, the crown for the largest company is currently in the hands of Microsoft (MSFT). Not only is MSFT the biggest company, it’s also the only company worth over $1 trillion in […]
Buying A Covered Call On Chipmaker Up 75% YTD
There are primarily two companies known for producing the majority of computer graphics cards (GPUs). Most investors are familiar with NVIDIA (NVDA), which tends to be a high-flying, headline grabbing stock. However, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is also a huge player in the industry – but can often fly under the investment community’s radar. Lately however, it’s AMD […]
What’s In Store For Market Volatility? And How Do We Trade It?
Kids may be getting out of school, but it doesn’t seem like most traders are ready to go on vacation. In fact, it appears that many market watchers are glued to their screen. There’s undoubtedly been a lot more volatility over the past couple weeks than what we’ve gotten used to as the summer approaches. […]
How Much Higher Are Interest Rates Going?
If the markets weren’t so focused on the trade war with China, then most of the focus would likely be on interest rates. Of course, the trade war has an impact on interest rates, although it’s not a cut and dry connection. In a nutshell, tariffs could hurt domestic economic numbers, which could certainly factor […]
Does This Trade Tell Us There’s A Ceiling On The Price Of Gold?
Economics news has taken center stage over the last week or so, with the word “recession” popping up quite a bit in financial headlines. The Fed has recently said it doesn’t plan to raise rates in 2019 and the investment crowd wants to know why. Not to mention, we’ve had the dreaded “inverted yield curve” […]
Using Options To Trade The Spike In Advanced Micro Devices
There are generally two reasons why a stock a sudden, big move. Either the overall market is having a big up or down day (the systemic effect). Or, the company itself has some specific news item causing a large move (the idiosyncratic effect). Most stock specific news is related to earnings or product announcements, although […]
How To Easily Increase The Yield On This Boring Trade
Almost every type of investment vehicle seems to be more exciting than bonds. The one exception may be annuities, which I can’t even discuss because I’ll pass out from boredom before I finish the article. But back to bonds, they generally aren’t very exciting to invest in, especially government bonds. Nevertheless, bonds are an extremely […]
Earn 272% If Volatility Spikes By The End Of March
As volatile as 2018 was in stocks, 2019 so far has been anything but. After the first two months of the year, market volatility has been nearly non-existent. It’s much closer to the ultra-low volatility environment of 2017, where the VIX barely cracked 15 the entire year. Of course, we’re starting off from a higher […]
5 Tips To Become A Better Stock Trader
Trading is hard, but these 5 tips should help make it easier Are you looking to become a better stock trader? Whether you’re swing trading or day trading, learning how to trade stocks isn’t really that difficult on the surface. Develop a system, follow your rules and makes tweaks to improve it along the way. […]
Get Paid To Own Gold
The markets may have recovered from the disastrous last quarter of 2018, but that doesn’t mean all the trouble is behind us. There is plenty of risk to take into account in the coming weeks. In other words, investors should remain cautious. The Fed decided not to raise rates in January and plans on being […]
A Bullish Bet On Netflix That Can Make 85% Gains
The FANG stocks can be quite polarizing for investors, and Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) is no exception. The streaming video giant (and the N in FANG) also may be the most volatile of the four. You can usually count on it for some action every few weeks or so. Of course, NFLX just posted earnings so there was […]
A Stock Replacement Strategy For Emerging Markets
The benefits of options are numerous, as anyone who has traded them can readily tell you. We often talk about the leverage, flexibility, and definable risk characteristics of options as clear benefits to using them. Options strategies can be wonderful tools for risk management as well as speculation. What’s more, options can serve as an […]
Earn Income While Hedging Against Market Uncertainty
Covered calls are quite possibly the best investment strategy on the planet. How many other strategies lower risk, provide income, and potentially allow for capital growth? There’s reason why so many fund manager employ covered calls as a cornerstone of their trading plans. What can be surprising to many covered call traders (new and experienced […]
A Deceptively Easy Way To Make 133% Profits From Higher Interest Rates
Despite all the headlines about the upcoming trade summit with China, it’s interest rate expectations that are more likely driving the financial markets. Yes, a trade war with China is bad for both countries (and the global economy) and a resolution would certainly be good news for stocks. However, from a global perspective, interest rate […]
An Easy Trade To Make Money From Recent Market Turmoil
Trading market volatility can be very profitable because it tends to be more predictable than picking market direction. Yet, volatility trading can also be risky because of its tendency to make big moves on very short notice. Both February and October of 2018 are good examples of this scenario playing out. Still, one volatility behavior […]
Is The Housing Market About To Hit A Top?
I don’t spend a lot of time writing about real estate in this space. It’s not that it isn’t important, in fact it’s quite the opposite. Of all the sectors most impacted by a change in interest rates, real estate is at the top of the list. However, I just don’t find real estate that […]
Is Oil Going Higher? Feel Like You Missed The Gains?
How do you analyze oil in this market? It may seem like picking a direction for crude oil shouldn’t be too overwhelming of a task. However, under current market conditions, there are multiple competing factors in what could drive the price of oil (higher or lower). Deciding which way you think the price is going […]
A Quick Trade To Profit From This Summer’s Volatility?
Most investors (and all traders) are aware of what market volatility is. When stocks are moving all over the place, it’s pretty obvious to most anyone who follows the markets that it means volatility is high. And when nothing is going on and stocks are moving sideways, it’s easy to recognize that as a low […]
A Quick 185% On An ETF That’s Just Now Bottomed
If you have any interest in economic policy, especially macroeconomic policy and repercussions, now is about as interesting as it gets. I realize most people don’t get a hoot about macroeconomics, but it can be very useful for analyzing trading opportunities. (For me, it goes beyond that since I have a degree in economics which […]
How To Generate Income On Tesla’s (TSLA) Plunge
Of all the selling going on in the stock market these days, no sector has been hit harder than tech. Although I believe the overall selling has been too harsh, the tech sector was certainly overvalued relative to other sectors. Keep in mind, the tech sector has almost always been the biggest area of growth, […]
Make 150% When The Markets Calm Down
Well this past week has certainly been interesting. After a pretty terrible week for stocks, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is now down 5% for the year and the S&P 500 is down about 3%. This certainly isn’t the year most investors expected, especially after the market reacted so positively to the reduction in corporate […]
Here’s How To Generate 425% Returns On Higher Interest Rates
This week, we get the next installment of the FOMC meeting – the big Fed meeting where they decide what to do with interest rates. The meetings are a bit more interesting these days since rates are going up and some sort of definitive actions tends to take place. Keep in mind, we had several […]
A Big Bank Trade Moving Into Earnings
As an options trader, earnings season is often one of the most enjoyable times to trade. During the heavy earnings periods, you often see plenty of large moves in individual stocks (for obvious reasons). Options can be a good way to capitalize off those big moves. However, the biggest challenge with using options for earnings […]
This Energy Trade Could Post Triple-Digit Gains
Investors often try to figure out themes in the financial markets once a new trading year hits. 2017 was all about low volatility, cryptocurrencies, and tax reform. With tax reform out of the way, we still have low volatility and cryptocurrencies/blockchain tech on the board. What else could be in store? Obviously, the jury’s still […]
