Saturday, February 8, 2025
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 […]
As promised, I want to look further into banks that have seen heavy buying by insiders recently. All because of the banking “crisis” that’s been all over the news lately. Now, look. This isn’t a real banking crisis. This is just the banking industry deciding to have a “crisis” thanks to some horrific decisions made […]
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 […]
Later this year, Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook wants to cement his legacy by revealing the company’s ‘next big thing’. He hopes that Apple’s mixed-reality headset will become the next iPhone. The stakes are high for Cook because this is his baby – the first new hardware platform developed entirely under his leadership. The iPhone, […]
As the regional banking crisis enters its second week, options traders have been eyeing First Republic Bank (FRC). The ultra-high volatility in FRC means there has been plenty of options action in the stock, with thousands more options trading than what normally occurs. One trader appears to be selling over 3,5000 puts that expire in […]
Welcome to the banking crisis that never needed to happen. After the two banks dealing with the cryptocurrency industry and Silicon Valley Bank collapsed due to two horrible decisions made by bank executives, this should have been over. Instead, all the Class of 2020 virologists and epidemiologists who had retired and became Artificial Intelligence experts […]
The slow, then sudden, collapse of Credit Suisse (CS) put a lot of large asset management company money at risk. But as an individual investor, you may think you’re not affected by the failure of a Swiss bank now being acquired by another Swiss bank. Unfortunately, a handful of popular investment products could go down […]
During the current period of intense market volatility, some investors have grown fearful. For these concerned investors, municipal bonds, aka “munis,” are worth a look. Munis are issued by state and local governments, and generally pay tax-exempt interest at the federal and potentially state levels. Municipal bonds have played a vital role in building the […]
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 […]
