Category: INO.com Contributors

Are Investors Secretly Turning Bearish On The Dollar?

Posted on by Lior Alkalay

Lior Alkalay - INO.com Contributor - Forex


Less than two weeks into 2016 and history has already been made. This January will go down in the record books as Wall Street’s worst in decades. China is losing control, the Middle East is boiling over and the Emerging Markets are in dire straits. All of which has led stocks to shed more than a trillion dollars in value.

It’s the classic boiling-to-the-brim pot which suggests we’re ready to push the dollar higher, right? Instead, dollar strength has really been rather tame which, on the face of it, is quite puzzling. That is unless investors have secretly been turning bearish on the greenback. The question is, are they? Continue reading "Are Investors Secretly Turning Bearish On The Dollar?" →

Aggressive Covered Call Options Strategy To Generate Current Income

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Selling aggressive covered call options (i.e. aligning the strike price at or near the current price) to generate current income may augment overall portfolio returns while mitigating risk. In brief, options are a form of derivative trading that traders can utilize in order to initiate a short or long position via the sale or purchase of contacts. In the event of a covered call, this is accomplished by leveraging the shares one currently owns by selling a call contact against those shares for a premium. An option is a contract that gives the buyer of the contract the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying security at a specified price on or before a specified date. The seller has the obligation to buy or sell the underlying security if the buyer exercises the option. An option that gives the owner the right to buy the security at a specific price is referred to as a call (bullish); an option that gives the right of the owner to sell the security at a specific price is referred to as a put (bearish). I will provide an overview of how an aggressive covered call is utilized and executed to generate current income and mitigate risk. Further details focusing on actual examples of selling in-the-money covered calls and the ability to sell these types of options in an aggressive manner to generate cash in one’s portfolio will follow. Continue reading "Aggressive Covered Call Options Strategy To Generate Current Income" →

Metals Illustrated: Past And Future

Posted on by Aibek Burabayev

Aibek Burabayev - INO.com Contributor - Metals


In my first post this year I will show you how metals have been moving the last 5 years and which levels you should watch in 2016 to be ready for actions. More illustrations, fewer words are ahead.

Metals Performance For The Past 5 Years

Metals Performance For The Past 5 Years
Diagram by Aibek Burabayev; data courtesy of tradingview.com

Out of the past 5 years the following two years are outstanding: in 2012 all metals were in green and showed from 6% to 9% positive dynamics, and last year was totally red with double-digit percentage negative dynamics. Continue reading "Metals Illustrated: Past And Future" →

2016 Outlook For MLPs And Pipelines

Posted on by Adam Feik

Adam Feik - INO.com Contributor - Energies


I suppose my 2016 outlook for MLPs and pipelines should begin with a mea culpa about something I wrote earlier in 2015. On September 24th, I wrote:

“I generally regard pipelines as being a historically defensive area of the stock market, comprised of relatively steady, fee-for-service businesses. (Pipeline companies’ stocks) may be receiving undue punishment in the midst of the oil crash of the past 15 months. (Their) prices are down about 16% since June 20, 2014, compared to nearly a 38% decline for the overall energy sector, and a 63% crash in oil prices.”

The First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure ETF (EMLP) closed at $22.17 that day; and while EMLP did rise to nearly $24 over the next couple weeks, it then plateaued in October and plunged below $20 again by December 4th. It closed Tuesday at $20.15.

I regret having used adjectives like “defensive” or “steady” to describe these stocks. The past 7 or 8 months have certainly demonstrated otherwise!

The jury is still out on whether these stocks are “receiving undue punishment,” though. Perhaps 2016 will provide the verdict on that. Continue reading "2016 Outlook For MLPs And Pipelines" →

Will Political Headwinds For Biotech Subside In 2016?

Posted on by Noah Kiedrowski

Noah Kiedrowski - INO.com Contributor - Biotech


As the political cycle unfolded throughout 2015, the entire healthcare cohort posted shape declines, this was particularly true for the biotechnology sector. Using the iShares Biotechnology Index ETF (ticker IBB) as a proxy for the biotechnology sector, this cohort fell from $401 in July to $284 in September or alternatively a 29% decline. This shape decline coincided with heated political rhetoric aimed at the collective cohort of healthcare and more specifically biotech related companies. This cynical sentiment by political frontrunners was largely rooted in the pricing of drugs. As candidate threats via legislative action geared towards reining in the costs of drugs unfolded, these actions negatively reverberated through healthcare and biotech stocks alike. The political posturing surrounding potential plans to reign in drug costs are now largely priced into many stocks within the healthcare umbrella. I contend that after the recent sell-off the biotech cohort looks attractive at these levels. Once the political cycle is complete in 2016, these stocks will likely benefit from the mere absence of political headwinds. Additionally, as the candidate pools thin out many remaining candidates gradually move towards the middle to appease a broader audience. Taken together along with the difficulty of enacting any legislative action to regulate the industry this may represent a buying opportunity that’s been presented by extraneous political events. Continue reading "Will Political Headwinds For Biotech Subside In 2016?" →