February 12, 2015 Market Recap

The S&P 500 continued its climb higher, closing at 2088, up nearly 20 points and a high for 2015. We were up in the pre-market on the belief that tensions between Russia and the Ukraine have eased, by coming up with a cease-fire agreement. In addition, there are hopes that Monday’s Euro zone finance minister meeting will yield some positive results between the Greek financial situation.

The VIX got smoked, closing at 15.34, down nearly 10%.

The crude oil market caught a bid today, but continues to remain volatile. The United States Oil ETF, USO, was up nearly 4%, closing at 19.18.

Read More…

February 10, 2015 Market Recap

The S&P 500 surged higher today, closing at 2068.57, up nearly 22 points. Some market participants feel that tomorrow’s Eurozone finance minister meeting will be positive, and attribute today’s market pop to that.

The VIX closed at 17.23, down nearly 7%.

The crude oil market continues to remain volatile. The United States Oil ETF, USO, was down over 4%, closing at 18.94. In addition to the move, we saw some heavy put buying in some energy names. One that stuck out was Halliburton, HAL, earlier this morning we saw one trader come in and buy over 6500 March 41 puts, lifting the offer at $1.28. In the afternoon, Halliburton announced that they would be cutting 6.5 to 8% of their global workforce.

There are a number of earnings that traders will be watching tomorrow, some include:

Read More…

February 8, 2015 The Week Ahead

The S&P 500 had three +1% daily moves this week, closing at 2055.47. However, the futures are selling off this evening, after earlier today, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras laid out plans to remove austerity measures. Clearly, the focus next week, will be on Greece, as Eurozone finance ministers will meet on Wednesday, in hopes of some kind of resolution.

The VIX closed the week at 17.29, however, a hiccup out of Europe could send it back above 20.

The crude oil market was extremely volatile this week. The daily moves during the week were: Monday +2.89%, Tuesday +7.02%, Wednesday -8.67%, Thursday +4.19% and Friday +2.38%. If Equity traders are participating in this trade by playing energy companies, airline companies and ETFs, just to name a few. A couple of websites have been circulating the comments made by an OPEC official that crude oil prices could one day reach $200 a barrel. Is the bottom in on crude oil? We’ll have to wait and see for now.

Read More…

February 5, 2015 Market Wrap

The S&P 500 had it’s 3rd +1% daily move for the week closing at 2062.52. One could argue that the recent runup is attributed towards the idea that the EU will be able to maintain control on the financial crisis in Greece. However, the situation is capable of turning on a dime, and therefore, adding uncertainty back into the market.

The VIX continued it’s drop today, closing at 16.85, good for an 8% decline.

Read More…

Market Recap

The S&P 500 has been on a tear the last two days. The market is up nearly 3% since Monday’s open. Even more impressive has been the move in crude oil. Crude oil futures are up nearly 20% from their low’s five days ago.

In addition, VIX got smoked today, down nearly 11%, closing at 17.33.

One stock that has enjoyed the ride has been Cameron International Corporation (CAM), the stock is up 14% since Friday’s open. Not only that, but options action has been heavy in the name. Today, we saw 19.4 times the usual options volume, including a 25,000 lot of Feb 50 calls bought for around $0.95, when the stock was trading around $48.08 per share.

Read More…

The Week Ahead

The S&P 500 closed last week down over 55 points from Monday’s open. The VIX closed at 20.97 on Friday, as volatility has been very present in the first month of the new year.

Some believe it’s due to the strengthening of the dollar, causing multi-national corporations to come up soft during earnings and lower their guidance. Others are watching the financial situation in Greece closely. Will they reject further austerity? Default on their debt? Fall out of the Euro? Or come to some type of resolution?

Read More…

January 28, 2015 Midweek Recap

The equity market got slammed today despite Apple Inc. posting a great quarter last night, and trading nearly 6% higher today. Over the last two days of trading, the S&P 500 is down nearly sixty points. Opening at 2054 on Tuesday and closing at 1993.75 today. Apple is a large component of the Nasdaq, however, even with it’s up move, the index closed negative.

To no surprise, the VIX surged higher today. It closed above the 20 mark, good for nearly a 19% move. The VIX has closed above 20, six times this month. Not only that, but it’s had six +/- 10% days this month. Clearly, it feels like volatility is back.

Read More…

The Week Ahead

The S&P 500 closed the week higher. We opened the week at 2020.76 and closed at 2051.82. However, there was a lot of volatility in between.

The VIX, closed the week in the mid teens at 16.66.

Crude oil prices seem to be stabilizing somewhat. However, the intra-day volatility remains relatively high. For example, this week we saw a range of 45.56 to 47.78.

The market clearly reacted positively to the ECB announcement earlier this week. However, we’re seeing the futures market sell off this evening, after the reaction to the Greek elections. In addition, the Euro fell to 11 year lows.

Read More…

January 22nd Market Recap

The US equity market surged today following the ECB announcement. Earlier this morning, the ECB stated that they’ll be buying $60 billion of asset-backed securities and covered bonds, on a monthly basis until September 2016. It took some time for the market to fully digest the news. In fact, the S&P 500 went negative during the day. However, it closed up, over 31 points, to 2063.15.

With that said, the VIX sold off hard, down nearly 13% and closing at 16.40.

Gold continued it’s upward momentum today. It’s gone from 1228.31 to 1301.60 per ounce, over the last five trading days.

The energy market continues to stay volatile. Implied volatility in USO is near 52-wk highs.

Read More…

The Week Ahead

The markets were closed today for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The S&P 500 closed last week below its 50-day moving average. We opened the week at 2028.26 and closed at 2019.42. However, there was a lot of volatility in between. For example, our low during the week was 1998.12 and the high was 2056.93.

The VIX, closed last week at 20.55. The low was 17.65 and the high was 23.43.

Read More…