<p>Broad market indices gapped lower on the open and sold off sharply during the first hour of trading.  The steep decline out of the gate put pressure on those who bought the recent breakout to new swing highs, as their positions were quickly taking on water.  Though the ugly int ... Read more

A strong rally in the final hour of trading saw broad market indices close at the highs of the session, led by the relative strength in financials. After fighting off a weak open, markets reversed higher but failed an early afternoon breakout attempt and fell back into a range. Tech stocks faile ... Read more

OK, we all know, or at least we hope we all know, that options volatility constitutes a prediction of of where *realized* volatility will go over the next X Days. The "X" we almost always use is 30. So a standard volatility measure, call it "The VIX" or "The VXN" generally seeks to express volat ... Read more

Trying to look past the wild volatility that has gripped investors for the last few weeks, one of the more interesting developments we've seen has been the steady trend of the CBOE Market Volatility Index (VIX). The trend of the VIX has been somewhat predictable over the past several wee ... Read more

FINTAG COMMENT No rest for the severely beaten up. Time is tough for the last capitalist players in the financial markets, but thankfully the media are more fixated about domestic issues, ING being state controlled and Jim "Long Only" Cramer being made to look stupid - if that was at all ... Read more

US Fed passes massive bailout package to rescue Wallstreet right?  Then the Stock Markets goes into free fall around the world.  Then the US Dollar becomes the safe haven for the world investors as fear grips everyone hearts.  I pose a question with the printing of m ... Read more

You wonder sometimes if the good ole USA would ever become like Iceland.  Good Question!  Anything is in the mix these days.  I have some friends calling me telling me to get extra cash because there's gonna be a bank holiday soon.  Extreme?  Maybe not!  It' ... Read more

This mornings open was all based on "Fear".  As a trader you learn to capitalize on extreme emotion in the market.  Fear being on the streets today I knew from past opens that this could very well be a Novice GAP DOWN.  So I went on the hunt for some poor stock t ... Read more

Today we have the Fed speaking and release of Fed mins and President Bush talking. Through the fog of the market I was still able to fire a winning trade.  I didn't mess with any market stocks knowing the environment and that the rules to the game were not in my favor.  See ... Read more