This “Fireside Chat” with Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 offers some parallels to the situation in the financial system today, and the steps our government is taking to fix it. But, in harkening back to the days of the Great Depression, you can certainly find things to be thankful for today.

By Eric Sebastian, Senior Account Executive at Lind-Waldock

The CBOE’s Volatility Index (VIX), also known as the “Fear Index” has gotten a lot of attention lately. Markets have clearly been volatile and many investors are unaware of what the VIX is, and how it can be used. Lind Plus Senior Market Strategist recently did a webinar explaining the basics of the VIX. The webinar was part 1 in our newest webinar series on Trading in Volatile Markets. You can register for part 2 & 3 here.

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The volatility markets have seen in 2008 has been unprecedented. The fear, panic and volatility of October made headlines daily. Markets have since calmed down a little, allowing investors and traders to catch their breath.

But questions still remain. Will the market volatility seen in October return? Can equity and commodity markets rebound? What strategies can investors and traders utilize to protect themselves?  (more…)

Now that the election is over, at least some uncertainty has been removed from the market. “The post-election reality is that it will be a long road, and we won’t get out of this contraction/recesssion/depression for a while. Buckle in,” said Lind Plus Senior Market Strategist Jeff Friedman. Jeff will give his post-election market analysis and outlook in a live webinar this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. CT. Join Jeff for “Friedman’s Futures Forecast” and ask him questions via live chat. There is no charge to attend, you just need to register here.

Learn everything you need to know about the Russell index’s switch from CME to ICE. Ray McKenzie, Vice President at ICE Futures U.S. recently did a webinar to fill us all in on the details. You can watch it below. And don’t forget to register for our upcoming events, by clicking here.

By Frank D. Cholly

The U.S. dollar’s rally, which started in mid-July and has continued through August, has led many commodities lower in the past few weeks. However, there is one unique commodity that hasn’t fallen with the rest, and that commodity is sugar. Read mor or watch the video below.

The Olympics in Beijing officially started today after months of pre-game scrutiny. China has gotten a lot of attention this past year as commodities such as corn and crude rose to new highs because of the high demand coming from them. In the following video below, Senior Market Strategist Jeff Friedman, gives an interesting analysis of China by comparing China to a girl going to prom.

Blake Robben, Senior Market Strategist with Lind Plus, believes that price declines in several commodity markets have provided buying opportunities for those that have been waiting to go long. Blake recently presented a webinar analyzing the stock market and commodity markets. You can read his commentary here: Stocks Still Bearish; Commodities Bullish.

Stay on top of the markets by registering for our weekly Markets on the Move webinars, every Monday at 3:30 p.m. CT.

Greg Milkovich, a senior market strategist in our Lind Plus broker assisted division, doesn’t think so. Commodities such as gold and crude oil have fallen in the past week, but Greg believes it might be a good idea to buy dips in some of these commodity markets. You can read his commentary here or watch his webinar on this topic by clicking the video below.

You can stay on top of the markets weekly by registered for our Markets on the Move webinar - every Monday at 3:30 p.m. CT.