Monday, November 18, 2024
This past week, Block (SQ) was the subject of a short report, which caused the stock to lose 15% in a day. It’s hard to say how valid the report is, but options traders think the share price will stay depressed for at least a week. A trader sold 1,000 call spreads that expire at […]
Since the pandemic became an official crisis in early 2020, investors have had to deal with crisis after crisis. There does not seem to be a path toward the next bull market for stocks. I assume we will have another bull market at some point, but the current crisis-to-crisis investment environment makes strategies that rely […]
A large options block trade hit the tape last week in one of the biggest gold producers, Barrick Gold (GOLD). The trader placed a 3-legged options spread using 23,000 options contracts per leg. The spread is likely a put spread collar that allows GOLD some upside potential while hedging against a portion of downside risk. […]
This is a polarizing topic for many… But, right now, Bitcoin is up 66% YTD and still going. Today, I’m going to look at the long-term Bitcoin chart and determine if this rally has legs or not. Whether you like cryptocurrencies or not, watching the price of Bitcoin can give you a good clue on […]
2022 was a terrible year for the media industry companies. This was because competition among streaming services has come to an all-time high and consumers are getting pickier about their number of subscriptions. On top of that, companies are contending with lower ad revenue and more cord cutting. When Netflix (NFLX) reported it lost subscribers […]
With the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the hit to financial sector stocks has been brutal. As a reference, the iShares U.S. Regional Banks ETF (IAT) dropped by more than 30% in a few days. During a follow-up webinar with my newsletter subscribers, I discussed how steep market corrections have been showing up more often… […]
The banking sector got hammered last week after SVB Financial (SIVB) had to sell some assets for a large loss to increase liquidity. The crash in SIVB shares sent the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE) down 8% in a day. Options trading in KRE was unsurprisingly brisk given the added volatility. However, a couple […]
Serge Berger here with a little bit of straight talk from me. I’ve been in the markets for a few decades now… yes, even through the 2008 crash (where I traded with a big bank). I’m talking with private clients and there’s still way too much complacency with equities. And I understand why. We’ve lived […]
I’m looking at a chart comparing bond yields correlated to the US economy. Right now, there are extreme readings in a pattern not ever seen. Usually, as the economy goes down, so do bond yields and vice versa. However — right now, economic data is worsening quickly but bond yields are rocketing higher. I have […]
Silvergate Capital (SI) is a crypto-friendly bank that is down over 60% in a week (at the time of this writing). The regional bank is getting hit hard after admitting the company has concerns about its operational viability after the collapse of the crypto market in recent months. Several short-term options block trades suggest that […]
