GDP Contracts 1% in Q2 – Reuters Why Investors Should Ignore GDP – RealClearMarkets Government Revises GDP Growth for the Last 70 Years – Crossing Wall Street Cash for Clunkers Out of Cash – Wall Street Journal Government Adds $2B for Clunkers Plan – Bloomberg CFTC’s Gensler Determined to Act – Reuters U.S. Housing Turning [...]

GDP Has Fallen Four Straight Quarters The Commerce Department reported on Friday, July 31, that the U.S. economy contracted at a 1.0 percent annual rate in the second quarter. U.S. GDP, which measures total goods and services output within U.S. borders, has fallen for four straight quarters for the first time since government records started [...]

U.S. Gold Closes Strong as Dollar Drops, Oil Rallies – Reuters Earnings Drive Wall St. Rally, Jobless Claims Help – Reuters Crude Jumps More Than 5 Pct on Economic Hope – Reuters Oil Giants Hit Hard by Recession – MarketWatch Treasurys Gain After 7-Year Auction – MarketWatch Commodities Soar as Investors’ Risk-Appetite Grows - AP Sugar [...]

An Early Fall for the S&P 500, Dow and Nasdaq by John Caruso The stock market has staged an impressive rally over the past 14 trading sessions.  Could it be due to the fact that earnings season is upon us, or maybe the impressive leap in the housing market data over the past month? You [...]

Demand Fears Rattle Markets – WSJ CFTC Chief Gains Support for Oil Trading Curbs – WSJ Commodities Sell Off Amid “Perfect Storm – MarketWatch Oil Futures Fall Nearly 6% as Crude Supplies Surge – MarketWatch Gold Back on the Dollar Seasaw – Mineweb China – The Gorilla of Commodities Demand – Mineweb How do You [...]

When Trading Futures, What’s Priced in? by Matt Krupski When trading futures, it is important to ask yourself the question of: “What’s priced in?” The concept of something being “priced in” refers to the fact that prices for futures do not reflect only current economic realities, but the expectation of market conditions at some point [...]

The S&P Calendar Spread by Mike Sabo Many people are familiar with options strategies such as bull call spreads or bear put spreads, but I’d like to discuss the use of a calendar options spread to take advantage of a potential pullback in the S&P 500. The stock market has undergone a significant rally, and [...]

Drop in Consumer Confidence Weighs on Commodities – AP/Cattlenetwork Attitudes on Risk Put Dollar on Heels – WSJ India, Brazil Worries Lift Sugar – WSJ Oil Futures Fall as BP Sees Little Evidence of Demand Growth – MarketWatch Platinum to Rise 16% as Car Sales ‘Whammy’ Ends – Bloomberg Aluminum Heads for Longest Gain in [...]

Three days of CFTC hearings are underway on the topic of speculation in the futures markets, and the impact on market pricing. “This hearing is an opportunity to determine how speculative position limits could be used to address excessive speculation, not how we can eliminate speculation,” said CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler, adding that the CFTC [...]

U.S. New Home Sales Rise Sharply in June – Reuters World Oil Demand to Rise in 2010, Supply Still High – Reuters CFTC To Tackle Position Limits, Exemptions – Reuters Dollar Trades Near 2009 Low as Economy Reduces Refuge Demand – Bloomberg Platinum May Rise to $1,500 on Supply Disruptions, Merrill Says – Bloomberg Oil [...]