Jan
25
MARKET NOTES
MARKET NOTES January 24, 2007 Stocks opened strong and finished strong yesterday. The Nasdaq 100 (QQQQ) led the way higher with a 1.65% gain and Russell 2000 (IWM) came in second with a 1.10% gain. NYSE and Nasdaq volume was above average and a number of key indices and ETF’s recorded all time highs, Not 52-week highs, Not 6-month highs, All time highs. The NYSE Composite, the Dow, the S&P MidCap Index, the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index, the Finance SPDR (XLF) and the Materials SPDR (XLB) all recorded new […]
Jan
19
The Bulls, the Bears and the Farm…
On Wall Street, the bulls and bears are in a constant struggle. If you haven’t heard of these terms already, you undoubtedly will as you begin to invest. The Bulls A bull market is when everything in the economy is great, people are finding jobs, gross domestic product (GDP) is growing, and stocks are rising. Things are just plain rosy! Picking stocks during a bull market is easier because everything is going up. Bull markets cannot last forever though, and sometimes they can lead to dangerous situations if stocks become […]
Jan
3
Option Terms & Definitions
Options – Definitions, Terms & Concepts What is an option? A stock option is a contract which gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell shares of the underlying security or index at a specific price for a specified time. Stock option contracts generally are for 100 shares of the underlying stock. There are two types of options, calls and puts. What is a call option? A call option gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy the underlying security at a […]
Dec
18
U.S. stocks closed flat despite a spate of merger news; 10-year interest rates were unchanged at 4.59%, but energy prices traded sharply lower. The Dow Jones Industrials slipped 6 points and the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) jumped 5% to 10.59. In M&A (Merger & Acquisition) news, Biomet (BMET) accepted a $44 bid from private equity interests, Icos (ICOS) agreed to a $34 deal with Eli Lilly (LLY), and Express Scripts (ESRX) made a surprise $58.50 cash and stock offer for Caremark (CMX), topping a bid by CVS. Options’ trading volume […]