WTF - It's not what you think

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Hello traders everywhere! Adam Hewison here, President of INO.com and Co-creator of MarketClub, with your mid-day market update for Friday, the 11th of October.

I first learned about the real meaning of WTF while I was a member of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, back when I was trading in the pits, standing shoulder to shoulder with some of the smartest traders in the world.

It was back when the movie Star Wars was all the rage and George Lucas was at the height of his very successful, creative career. The iconic line from the movie that struck a cord with everyone was, "May the force be with you."

How that quote made it into the trading pits of Chicago will always be a mystery to me. The members of the exchange took WTF, a slang term, and translated that to stand for "What's The Force?", loosely interpreted to mean, is the force up or down for the market? This term was especially common on Fridays when traders had to decide whether they were going to hold or fold their positions over the weekend.

So I say to you this Friday, WTF? Continue reading "WTF - It's not what you think" →

Should Janet Yellen Be The Next Federal Reserve Chief?

Posted on by The INO.com Team

The challenges for Janet Yellen if she becomes the next Federal Reserve chair will require both the steely intellect and the personable style that many attribute to her.

Deciding when to slow the Fed's economic stimulus. Forging consensus from a fractious policy committee. Calculating the effects of any economic slowdown from Washington's budget fight. Facing volatile financial markets. Absorbing new members at the Fed.

First, though, Yellen will have to get there: She'll need to overcome Washington's toxic political environment and win confirmation from the Senate.

It's almost enough to make you wonder why she'd want the job, but a better question is....

Should Janet Yellen be the next Federal Reserve chief?

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Yellen is widely seen as a "dove" on Fed policy: She stresses the need to use the Fed's tools to boost growth and reduce unemployment in the sluggish aftermath of the Great Recession, rather than worry about igniting future inflation. Continue reading "Should Janet Yellen Be The Next Federal Reserve Chief?" →

Is The Market Correction Over?

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Hello traders everywhere! Adam Hewison here, President of INO.com and Co-creator of MarketClub, with your mid-day market update for Thursday, the 10th of October.

Yes, I believe that the current correction has come to an end with yesterday's market action. Markets are heavily oversold at this point and I expect to see a relief rally starting today.

Several of our MarketClub members stated that they expect to see some sort of agreement out of Washington in the next few days. I happen to agree with their thoughts and if that happens, it could instantly repair the downside pressure on the markets.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is looking more and more interesting, particularly if it closes today over the $491.10 level. Should this happen, it will have created a mini base in which to propel Apple to my "line-in-the-sand" level at $497. Apple could go into overdrive if this level is broken on the upside any time this week. Continue reading "Is The Market Correction Over?" →

Technical Analysis Toolkit for Energy Investors

Posted on by admin

The Energy Report: Energy prices are very sensitive to international events, especially conflicts in the Middle East. Do your charts factor in the periodic crises that impact oil and gas prices as buy and sell moments? How do you factor in inflation and interest rate movements into your calculations about which energy juniors look like good buys at any given time?

Clive Maund: The charts do factor in periodic crises that impact oil and gas prices as buy and sell moments, but often in a contrary way. The trick is to gauge when a crisis is at its moment of greatest tension, and while this is not at all easy, the charts can often be a great help in defining such a moment. I will give you an example using a recent call on CliveMaund.com, where the top in oil was pinpointed a day after its occurrence. Some readers may remember an old saying used on the London market many years ago, "Buy on a strike." This refers to a strike by labor, not an oil strike. The underlying psychology of this was that the time of maximum tension and uncertainty, which was when labor unions called the workers out on strike, was the best time to buy stocks, because they would have been falling in anticipation of this, and as tensions later eased as the situation headed to resolution, they would rise again. So it is with conflict and tension situations in the Middle East and their impact on the oil markets. Continue reading "Technical Analysis Toolkit for Energy Investors" →

How Volatility Affects The Options and Binary Options Markets

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Market volatility comes in two forms, implied volatility and historical volatility, both which can affect an investor’s ability to be successful in trading Binary Options. Implied volatility is similar to a financial security as it fluctuates with market sentiment and is an estimate of how much options trader perceives a financial security or index will move over a specific period of time on an annualized basis. Historical volatility is the actual past movement of a security and can be defined as the standard deviation of a time series, reflected in percentage format.

Implied volatility affects the price of a Binary Option, but it influences standard vanilla options much more than it effects Binary Options. Implied volatility changes as market sentiment changes. Generally as fear and trepidation increase, implied volatility increases, while increases in complacency are generally highly correlated to declines in implied volatility.  Continue reading "How Volatility Affects The Options and Binary Options Markets" →