It is damage control time for small-cap investors. When on August 14 August 21st weekly 119 puts were hypothetically sold for $0.92, IWM, the iShares Russell 2000 Index, was trading at $119.62. If the short put got assigned, it was … Continued
After last week’s bloodbath in stocks, Friday brought a small consolation for small-cap investors. Maybe. During the week, IWM, the iShares Russell 2000 ETF, lost major support – which is three percent away. The 118-119 support goes back to March last … Continued
Small-caps were big laggards last week. IWM, the iShares Russell 2000 ETF, lost 2.5 percent, versus drops of 1.3 percent for the S&P 500 Index, 1.8 percent for the Dow Industrials and 1.7 percent for the Nasdaq Composite, among others. … Continued
In the right circumstances, U.S. stocks have room to rally – at least in the near-term. After the recent pullback, U.S.-based stock funds attracted $14.1 billion in the week ended July 8 – biggest inflows since mid-December (courtesy of Lipper). … Continued
The SPDR Consumer Discretionary ETF (XLY) is primed for another short put options strategy. Last week, the ETF went on to rally 0.6 percent. Thus, the premium earned selling weekly June 26th 77 puts was kept. Could this work again … Continued
The latest (mid-June) short-interest reports are intriguing in some respects. On both the NYSE Composite and Nasdaq Composite, short interest jumped period-over-period, to 16.2 billion and 8.9 billion respectively – up 3.6 percent and 3.4 percent, in that order. (Check … Continued
Last Thursday saw a powerful rally in stocks. Several indices went on to notch new records. The Nasdaq Composite surpassed its March 2000 intra-day high. The Russell 2000 Small Cap Index broke out to a new high. Several others, including … Continued
The following are futures positions of non-commercials as of June 16, 2015. Change is week-over-week. 10-year note: Let us see if we can make some sense out of this week’s major developments. The FOMC met, and it looked like members … Continued
We are in uncharted territory! On so many levels. As you will see in the charts below, many valuation metrics are stretched. The nation’s debt load just rose to a new high. At 1Q15, the total credit market debt outstanding … Continued
From the mid-May high of $49.75 to the low this Monday of $47.46, XLP, the SPDR Consumer Staples ETF, quickly lost 4.6 percent. In three weeks! Monday produced a doji, right around its 200-day moving average. By that time, daily … Continued