How to trade the market when volatility spikes
In a sharp, late-day selloff on remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Wall Street’s fear gauge — the CBOE Volatility Index — spiked to 27.62, the highest level since early August . It’s undoubtedly true that equity investors should “not fight the Fed,” and the Fed is not sending bullish signals, at least not […]
How to buy a little insurance if the 2024 market boom loses some steam into year-end
Record-breaking annual equity inflows of $448 billion, according to Bank of America, continue to push the major indices higher. The S & P 500 has now seen seven consecutive weeks of inflows, keeping the post-election momentum intact. I want to use the S & P 500 SPDR Trust ETF (SPY) to hedge these gains and […]
How to hedge some big tech gains going into the market uncertainty next week
Given the uncertainty surrounding the election next week and some mixed mega-cap technology earnings this week, I want to book some 2024 chip stock profits. I want to hedge my exposure by owning put options in the high-flying VanEck Semiconductor ETF (SMH) . SMH YTD mountain VanEck Semiconductor ETF, YTD Risk can happen fast. The […]
How to keep your portfolio steady in volatile times as the election approaches
The election is just a week away – and markets may be about to enter a rocky period – but investors can take a few steps to ensure their portfolios are ready to handle potential shocks. The S & P 500 is toting a 1.3% gain in October, but it’s up more than 22% in […]
How to buy a put spread on the Nasdaq as a portfolio hedge
The major averages all printed new all-time highs this week, driven by renewed optimism after a slightly cooler-than-expected inflationary report. Despite the continuation of Federal Reserve policy uncertainty, investors remain positive and seemingly still believe that a “soft-landing” is still achievable. I am somewhat in that “believer” camp too. However, I also believe now is […]
Options prices are rising as the market is on edge. How to use this to your advantage
Options premiums are rising and we’ll discuss how to take advantage of that by generating income through a covered call options strategy. Specifically, we’ll look at applying that trade to Domino’s Pizza, which has delivered some tasty returns of greater than 20% so far this year. There was plenty of cause for alarm over the […]
How to profit from the market and tech stock pullback using options
As we head into the early innings of earnings season, this year has been off to a shaky start. With technology companies lead by an AI rally last year, they are staring down the barrel of earnings that could disappoint. Let’s discuss how traders can hedge themselves ahead of that using options. After significant multiple […]