By Richard Ilczyszyn Since markets today are often interconnected, it’s important to look at the big picture. You can’t really trade one market or indicator in isolation. There are four outside markets or indicators that I think traders active in stocks or stock index futures should watch right now. I’m not referring specifically to technical [...]

by Aaron Fennell If you trade stocks, you may have heard the financial media talk about something called the VIX, also commonly referred to as the “fear index.” VIX stands for Market Volatility Index, and it represents how investors perceive volatility in the marketplace. The VIX tends to peak during times the stock market is [...]

by Matt Krupski I have recently been asked how puts could lose value, even when the market sees a significant decline, or even an all-out crash. It’s important to understand all of the various factors that influence option pricing to see how this could occur. Option prices are influenced by five major factors. •    Time [...]

by Aaron Fennell The stock market staged a strong recovery in 2009, and now there has been some debate going on about whether it’s still a good time to buy, or whether it’s time to sell, because the global economic outlook isn’t exactly sanguine yet. I think this type of debate could lead to bouts [...]