Portfolio puts are now in high demand even though markets were within striking distance of all time highs in the last few weeks. This preparation for a downturn can be viewed as a bullish contrarian indicator. Truth be told, the masses…
The VIX volatility index is often called the fear index and used to separate stable market situations from sell offs. The VIX has changed how traders and investors look at angst and uncertainty. It is easy to measure market psychology…
One of the advantages of the futures markets is the opportunity to trade at nearly 24 hours. Global inputs or news outside of normal stock market hours can be digested immediately in the highly traded stock index contracts on the S&P…
Finally, the Federal Reserve has moved off zero and put money in motion with the long awaited and exhaustively discussed rate increase. The quarter of one percent rate is still negligible, with hardly a bump in the markets as per the…
Each week, two major oil reports are released, the American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday and the US Department of Energy EIA (Energy Information Administration) weekly petroleum status report on Wednesday mornings. These findings are closely watched as they report fundamental facts…
Most market money is not made picking price bottoms or tops, but taking a piece out of established trends. It’s an expensive lesson to learn if you think that a stock can’t go any lower. A sharp price drop is attractive…
Beyond the bullion itself, gold can be controlled by buying or selling a gold (GLD) exchange traded fund or a futures contract. Both investment vehicles will closely follow the cash spot price of gold but differ in a few ways. First, the GLD ETF acts…
While trading or investing is capitalism at its finest, there are expenses that impact returns. The one hard cost, though much lower than in the past, is brokerage commission. Who you choose to trade needs to be more than…
