The CBOE Volatility Index fell for a sixth straight session on Thursday, dropping to 13.23. Briefly during the trading session, the VIX dropped below 13 before recapturing the 13 level. This marked the VIX’s lowest close since Jan. 26, meaning it has completely erased the massive spike it saw in early February, when concerns over…
Do you recall the evil of the market back in early February? You know, those evil folks that caused the market to crash known as the “short-Vol/VIX traders”. CNBC’s Mad Money Host Jim Cramer penned an article only a couple days after the February 5th Volpocolypse titled “Jim Cramer: There Are 4 Real Culprits for…
In the U.S. retail landscape, the strength seen this past holiday season continued into the first quarter of 2018. In fact, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters are becoming more bullish on consumer spending as retailers get ready to report their earnings for Q1 2018. The Thomson Reuters Same Store Sales Index is now looking for…...
So yesterday was a bit of a nail-biter, right? We had a looming, geo-political announcement that had the potential to rock markets and relationships between the U.S. and its allies… and enemies if we really want to be honest with the situation at-hand. Leading up to the 2:00 hour for which President Trump was to…
There was a great deal of follow through from Friday in the markets for much of the day yesterday… until President Trump issued a tweet that declared he would announce a decision on the Iran Nuclear Treaty at 2:00 p.m. EST Tuesday. On Monday, the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite finished with gains, but off…
We want to begin this week’s research report with a quick look back at what some might argue was the most important economic data from last week, the Nonfarm Payroll report. The report showed the U.S. adding 164,000 jobs and unemployment falling to 3.9%; the first time the jobless rate has dropped below 4% since the…
Social media and social-financial media sites can be a scary place. Be it Twitter (TWTR), Seeking Alpha or StockTwits, they might be better understood to have a caveat emptor (buyer beware) sticker attached to the various social platforms. I participate and have participated in all of these venues in order to gather resources and disseminate…
We want to begin this week’s research report with a quick look back at what some might argue was the most important economic data from last week, the Nonfarm Payroll report. The report showed the U.S. adding 164,000 jobs and unemployment falling to 3.9%; the first time the jobless rate has dropped below 4% since…...
It wasn’t pretty, but yesterday’s market action proved once again… well it proved nothing more than technicals matter more to markets today than over the last two years. When a market does little more than go up with great persistence, technicals seem to matter very little, but post a market correction; they have proven to…
It was quite a trading day, yesterday, that found the major averages on a roller coaster ride throughout the day. But in 2018, that’s actually been commonplace, which may be indicative of the greater degree of uncertainty that lay within investor sentiment. With that, the chart below offers a rudimentary look at the performance of…
