November Retail Sales, Producer Inflation Bolster Case for Rate-Hike Any lingering hopes that the Federal Reserve wouldn't raise interest rates when it has a chance to next week suffered Friday on the heels of news regarding last month's producer price inflation and retail spending. Both were strong enough – and in some ways better than expected – to bolster an...
Put/Call Ratio: What Is It, and How is It Used? A put/call ratio is simply a comparison – a ratio – of the number of put options that trade on any given day relative to the number of call options that exchange hands that same. There are several closely-watched put/call ratios… some that are based on all the options that...
Put/Call Ratio: What Is It, and How is It Used? A put/call ratio is simply a comparison – a ratio – of the number of put options that trade on any given day relative to the number of call options that exchange hands that same. There are several closely-watched put/call ratios… some that are based on all the options that...
Gold Prices May Be Poised for Near-Term Bounce, But Long-Term Trend Remains Grim For the first time in a long time, gold prices (GLD) aren't getting kicked around with oil prices (USO). It's not an entirely surprising premise; the underlying dynamic and fundamentals of the two commodities are plenty different. But, for the bulk of 2015, traders have kept oil...
Option Trading: Butterfly Spreads A butterfly spread is a four-option trade (though only three strikes are used; two of the four are duplicates) often entered on the premise that the underlying stock or index will move little to none before the options involved in the trade expire. In other words, it's considered a neutral position, and the trade itself can...
Option Trading: Butterfly Spreads A butterfly spread is a four-option trade (though only three strikes are used; two of the four are duplicates) entered on the premise that the underlying stock or index will move little to none before the options involved in the trade expire. In other words, it's considered a neutral position, and the trade itself can lose...
Job Growth is "Good Enough" for Fed to Hike Rates A rate hike has been on the Federal Reserve's radar for quite some time, though most investors have presumed — and probably wisely so — Janet Yellen and her fellow Fed governors were waiting on November's unemployment data and job growth numbers before mentally committing to a decision. With that...
Candlestick Charts: Inside Days Inside days are a two-bar pattern that often mark a major reversal of a trend because of their relative shape, and what that shape suggests about the changing mood of the market. Specifically, the inside day pattern consists of an open-to-close range for the first bar that is above and below the open-to-close range of the...
Candlestick Charts: Inside Days Inside days are a two-bar pattern that often mark a major reversal of a trend because of their relative shape, and what that shape suggests about the changing mood of the market. Specifically, the inside day pattern consists of an open-to-close range for the first bar that is above and below the open-to-close range of the...
Between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Holiday Spending is Growing as Expected Though investors had reason to be concerned following reports of unexpectedly weak Black Friday spending, by the time all was said and done for the all-important period between Thanksgiving evening and the end of Cyber Monday, consumers (XLY) (XLP) stepped up to the plate… again. But, much like...
