FOMC Announcement Sparks Selloff
FOMC Sparks Selloff The FOMC announcement sparks a sell off in stocks today. The FOMC announcement shows a 180 in policy from only 6 weeks ago when they raised rates for the first time in 9 years. The sell off in stocks led to another spike in volatility. The Fed indicates a slow down in…
XLF Stock Watch
XLF Stock Watch The market gave up most of the gains from Friday as each rally is met with a new wave of sellers. In a volatile market predictability goes out the window. All I'm doing is selling out of the money premium and that's all I'm recommending right now. The most ominous aspect of…
Bear Market Rally
Bear Market Rally Is this a bear market rally? I believe it is. Let's take a look at the market divergences which are tell tale signs of a bear market. Volatility futures are still telling me risk is imminent. The most precarious area is the financials that didn't perform as well as the rest of…
Trading Volatility
Trading Volatility Just when it looks like it's all over the markets rally higher. This is the type of day I've been looking for. The S&P Futures low of 1804 may be a short term bottom, but keep in mind the S&P was still off 20 handles today. Volatility is the name of the game…
Stock Market Crash 2016
Stock Market Crash 2016 The word of the day is tumultuous. We still can't get any type of relief rally in stocks. At the same time there doesn't seem to be any capitulation in sight. The VIX is at a moderate level and we haven't seen a big spike higher that would indicate traders are…
How to Trade Volatility
How to Trade Volatility Volatility was at an extreme this week with this markets dropping 7%. What should you expect next week? And, what should you be looking at? After 15 years in the brokerage industry I know that retail investors do the worst during periods of market volatility. In the midst of volatility everything…
Can You Handle the Volatility?
Can You Handle the Volatility? Volatility has been front and center to kick off 2016. Yes, 2016 has been good for Don. But, all experienced traders know the biggest move you're gonna get is the short covering rally. I wouldn't be surprised to the SPX back to 2000 by Friday. This is not the time…
Market Divergence Lead to Volatility?
Market Divergences Lead to Volatility? The markets ended 2015 essentially flat. Will we see more volatility in 2016? That's what I will discuss in this video. The story is market divergences. We will use comparison chart to compare all these indexes and analyze the divergences in the market. Large divergences have always ended in wild…
Don't Fall for the High Implied Volatility Trap
Don't Fall for the High Implied Volatility Trap Experienced options traders who learn about selling high implied volatility often fall into this trap. They scan for stocks only with very high implied volatility and inevitable try to sell that volatility and collect the high premium. Not a bad strategy you say. So what's the trap?…
Why Sell Volatility This Low?
Why Sell Volatility This Low? Should you really be selling volatility right now? Let's take a look at what's moving this market and what's not. We will start out with sectors then dive into specific ETFs like the XLF. I'm going to start building my case for why you want to wait to start selling…