August 9, 2015 The Week Ahead

August 9, 2015 tvcuser Education, Trading Conferences, Data, Dow Jones, Earnings, Economic, education, S&P 500, Shanghai, trading, VIX

August 9, 2015 The Week Ahead

The S&P 500 ended Friday’s action down for the fourth time in the last five trading sessions. Even worse, the Dow Jones Industrials has suffered its seventh straight losing session.

In respect to risk, market participants will be watching the Shanghai Composite, along with earnings.
Thus far, earnings have not been good enough to push the market to new highs.

Despite the uncertainty, the VIX barely climbed, closing the week at 13.39. With that said, many market technicians believe that the market is having a hard time holding major support levels. However, we are in the dull days of summer, which could explain the low volatility readings.

August 6, 2015 Market Wrap Up

August 6, 2015 tvcuser Education, Trading BRCM, CVX, DSX, Earnings, Economic, education, OXY, S&P 500, trading, VIX, XOM

August 6, 2015 Market Wrap Up

The S&P 500 closed lower today, now making four out of the last five trading sessions. We’ve seen several companies in various sectors, specifically, media, technology, and healthcare report bad earnings.

We saw weakness in Walt Disney Company, Comcast, Time Warner, Starz, and Twenty-First Century Fox. In addition, the Ishares Nasdaq Biotech ETF (IBB) was down over 4%.

With that said, it was no surprise to see the VIX jump over 10%, closing the day at 13.77. Now, a 13.77 VIX is not exactly screaming panic, we would need a further sell-off for that to occur.

On the options front, we saw bullish call buying in Diana Shipping Inc (DSX). We also saw bearish option activity in Broadcom Corp (BRCM).

The energy complex held up, considering the weakness we saw in other areas in the market. We saw some strength in XOM, CVX, and OXY to name a few.

Here’s what’s on tap for tomorrow:

Key Economic Data:
7 August 2015- Employment Situation 8:30 AM ET

Key Earnings:
7 August 2015- CVC

August 4, 2015 Market Wrap Up

August 4, 2015 tvcuser Education, Trading Apple, China, CRUS, Data, Earnings, Economic, education, Netflix, RAD, trading, VIX

August 4, 2015 Market Wrap Up

The S&P 500 closed lower for the third straight trading session. However, as mentioned yesterday, we’re not too far off the yearly highs.

A lot of the sell-off can be attributed to the sharp decline in Apple shares, dropping more than 3%, more than six points off the 200-day moving average. On the bright side, Netflix hit 52-week highs, after announcing a date on when it will enter Japan and catching a few price target raises.

Interestingly, the Chinese market rebounded last night. Which was good enough to see commodity prices rebound slightly.

The VIX saw a slight pop, closing the day at 13, a move of 3.5%.

On the options front, we saw bullish call buying in Rite Aid Corp (RAD). We also saw bearish option activity in Cirrus Logic Inc (CRUS).

August 3, 2015 Market Wrap Up

August 3, 2015 tvcuser Education, Trading Apple, China, Data, Earnings, Economic, education, SRPT, trading, URBN, VIX

August 3, 2015 Market Wrap Up

The S&P 500 closed negatively today, causing the index to drop below its 50 and 100 day moving averages. As mentioned yesterday, traders have been focused on China’s market and economic data.

With that said, we saw weaker manufacturing data from them, which caused commodity prices to tumble.

Crude oil futures are now at 3 month lows after dropping nearly 3%. In addition, gold futures are near 12-month lows.

Despite the negative tone, the VIX was only up around 4%, closing at 12.56. Interestingly, Apple saw a pretty sharp sell off, down over 2% and trading below its 200-day moving average for the first time since 2013.