Saturday, April 20, 2024
Options are commonly used as hedging instruments, especially options on indexes and ETFs. The iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA) is a popular asset allocation ETF which invests in stocks in developed countries ex US. As such, it makes for a good product to hedge with (using options), since it tracks the global equities market fairly […]
Last week was a tough one for social media company Snap (SNAP), which missed badly on guidance. The company warned of challenging macroeconomic conditions ahead and the stock dropped over 40% the next day. The following day, the stock gained 10%, and a large investor bought 10,000 January SNAP calls. This seemingly very bullish trade […]
It was the most challenging week in recent memory for blue chip retailers, with inflation and supply chain constraints hurting earnings and scaring away investors. Options action was mixed in Consumer Staples Select SPDR ETF (XLP), the leading retail sector ETF. One massive put spread that traded in XLP options during the week appears to […]
Several key retail stocks sold off sharply last week as inflation and supply chain issues took a toll on earnings. Target (TGT) was hit the hardest and dropped 25% in a day. Costco (COST) and Walmart (WMT) also saw their share prices decline. Options action was mixed on TGT, with some options traders potentially looking for a […]
Tech stocks have been among the hardest hit in market sell off this year. Roblox (RBLX), the popular video game company, has also seen a sharp decline in its share price as its revenue growth has slowed. However, after its most recent earnings report, the stock price looks like it could be bouncing back. In […]
The market has been in a significant downtrend this year, but the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) has been hit even harder. ARKK is down 60% year-to-date as it holds some of the most speculative stocks from the past several years. However, several options trades last week appear to be from traders opening up bullish positions […]
The market sold off sharply last week, with both stocks and bonds getting hit hard. Historically, bonds move opposite of stocks. But these days, with interest rates going higher, bonds also have downside risk. Looking at options action in iShares 20+ Treasury Bond ETF (TLT), it does not appear that the smart money expects bonds […]
With all the global uncertainty in the financial markets these days, gold has been a popular investment. One way to gain gold exposure is by using VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX). Gold miners are expected to thrive with gold trading around $1,900 per ounce. One trader sold a large block of puts last week in […]
The energy sector has been far and away the best performing sector over the last year with both oil and gas prices having been on the rise. A popular way to trade the energy sector as a whole is through the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE). XLE has been a solid gainer for 2022, […]
The market has been abuzz with the Elon Musk proposed acquisition of Twitter (TWTR). The company has agreed to be taken private by Musk at a price of $54.20 per share, but it could take several months to iron out the details. In the meantime, there has been a heavy amount of options trading on […]
