Stocks bounced back after yesterday’s drop. There were some concerns over North Korea after they canceled a meeting with South Korea and threatened to back out of the planned historic meeting with President Trump. But traders didn’t seem too worried. The major indices were slightly higher at the open and continued to rally in the morning. … Read more
Today the DOW’s impressive 8-day win streak came to an end. Retail Sales were released this morning at 8:30am ET and they were slightly lower than expected. Markets were on the move after the report. Gold (GC) tanked (down 2.1%) and interest rates spiked (the 10-year yield finished with its highest close since 2011). With traders worried about higher interest … Read more
Investors in Apple Inc. AAPL need to pay close attention to the stock based on moves in the options market lately. That is because the May 18, 2018 $80 Put had some of the highest implied volatility of all equity options today. What is Implied Volatility? Implied volatility shows how much movement the market is … Read more
After listing Bitcoin futures in December of last year, CME launched two indexes tracking Ethereum on Monday. Though the company has denied plans of adding another new product, speculation is rife that Ethereum futures may be added in the future. Ethereum futures will offer the institutional players an opportunity to diversify their trading into the … Read more
It was a quiet start for the week with stocks slightly higher. Trading got off to a positive start with the major indices up at the open. But after a sideways morning, stocks pulled back early afternoon. The major indices were sideways for most of the afternoon. Although the midday drop erased most of today’s early gains, … Read more
The cryptocurrency market has dropped $9 billion over the past 24 hours after demonstrating a $30 billion increase in valuation from $370 to $400 billion. Bitcoin Struggle at $8,500 The bitcoin price has struggled to surpass the $8,500 mark on throughout May 14, even after surpassing $8,700 on May 13. The market started to recover … Read more
U.S. equities are threatening to break up and out of a multi-month consolidation range with the Dow Jones Industrial Average testing its April high alongside the psychologically important 25,000 level. Investors have a lot of positives to be encouraged by, including a cooling of long-term interest rate increases, a calming of geopolitical tensions and ongoing … Read more
Facebook is “very serious” about launching its own cryptocurrency, according to a report from Cheddar. It’s not the first time the idea of a Facebook coin has been floated, but the plans take on some greater meaning in light of Facebook’s recently reshuffled executive structure and newly formed blockchain group. Blockchain, the decentralized record-keeping system, … Read more
If it seems as though 2018 is ripping by fast, you aren’t mistaken — it is. With summer just over a month away, and the traditional vacation season just around the corner, investors can also look forward to slow June through August trading, where often the bears will sneak in and take advantage of low trading … Read more
The results of last year’s Trump tax cut are starting to roll in, and they should not be surprising to students of the Laffer Curve or readers of this blog. As I noted last October, not cutting taxes rates is boosting the deficit: Since early last year (February 2016, to be exact), when talk of … Read more