The historic move in the bond market continued to weigh on stocks last week as the S&P 500 lost 2.4%, the Dow fell 1.6% and the Nasdaq declined by 3.1%.

Not surprisingly this past week had many ups and downs, as the market responded well to bad news early in the week and then gave up some of those gains on Friday. By week’s end the S&P 500 had gained 0.46%, the Dow had risen by 0.79% and the Nasdaq had fallen marginally.

Last week the stock market once again had some wild ups and downs, led mostly by volatile moves in the bond market. And while the start of the week was ugly, the action Friday was impressive – though the situation in the Middle East may throw those good vibes from Friday right out the window. By week’s end the S&P 500 had gained 0.5%, the Dow had fallen 0.3%, and the Nasdaq had risen by 1.6%.

The bond market’s wild gyrations were once again front of mind for traders last week, though interestingly by week’s end the market was mostly mixed as the S&P 500 lost 0.75%, the Dow fell 1.34%, and the Nasdaq was virtually unchanged.

It was a somewhat ugly week for the market as the Federal Reserve continued to push its hawkish agenda and the bond market reacted violently. By week’s end the S&P 500 had lost 2.93%, the Dow had fallen 1.89%, and the Nasdaq had declined by 3.62%.

It was a fairly quiet week in terms of the leading indexes’ performance as the S&P 500 fell marginally, the Dow mostly finished the week unchanged, and the Nasdaq fell by 0.4%.

Partially aided by declines in mega-cap technology stocks Apple (AAPL) and Nvidia (NVDA), both of which lost 6% last week, the holiday-shortened week was not particularly kind to the bulls as the S&P 500 fell 1.3%, the Dow lost 0.75%, and the Nasdaq declined by 2% last week.

The market is on course to have a nice week as the S&P 500 is higher by 3%, the Dow is up 1.2% and the Nasdaq tacked on 3% of gains. The VIX is trading at 13, which is lower by 17% on the week, which given the market’s gains is not surprising ahead of a long weekend.

The market had many ups and downs last week, and despite a nasty sell-off on Thursday the indexes closed the week mostly higher. The S&P 500 gained 0.8%, the Dow lost 0.45%, and the Nasdaq rose by 2.26%.

It was another rough week for the bulls as the bond market and China worries continue to weigh on the indexes. By week’s end the S&P 500 and Dow had both lost 2.22%, while the Nasdaq declined by 2.6%.

Stop me if you have heard this before, but inflation data and the moves in the bond market continue to be the major drivers of the market’s moves. And last week traders weren’t thrilled with these inputs as the S&P 500 fell by 1%, the Dow gained 0.5% and the Nasdaq continued its recent weakness with a further decline of 2%.

Last week was the first week in what feels like months that the sellers really took control. And while it was hardly a disaster in terms of the indexes as the S&P 500 fell 1.3%, the Dow lost 1.11% and the Nasdaq declined by 2.85%, the pain was worse in individual stocks, many of which fell hard on earnings.

Options trading has its own vernacular. To know how to do it, you need to know what every options term means. Here are some of the basics.

Want to know how the big institutional investors use options? Here is an example of how one trader spent $132 million on three technology stocks.

A subscriber recently asked me if I keep a journal of my trades. Many traders keep journals so they can look back at their trades and evaluate what they did right and what they did wrong.

Using Options to Hedge a Portfolio


A few Cabot Options Trader subscribers have asked me about ways to protect gains in their portfolios, so I thought I would write to everyone with a couple of strategies using options to hedge your portfolio.

This guide will help you execute the options strategies recommended in Cabot Options Trader.

Guide to Options Trading

Recently, I decided to hold our Visa (V) calls through earnings and sold our Coca-Cola (KO) calls the day before their earnings announcement. I thought I would break down why I decided to take the risk in V, and not in KO.

Yesterday, as the S&P 500 was heading to a 1.2% loss, a trader was aggressively selling April puts in many retailers. Here’s an explanation of put-selling.

Today, I tackle one of the questions I get most frequently: What is the difference between Cabot Options Trader and Cabot Options Trader Pro?

Every three to six months, I will revisit some of the important themes and strategies used by Cabot Options Trader since I became the editor.

Buy-Writes vs. Naked Puts

Cabot Options Trader Pro Editor Jacob Mintz on how selling calls through volatility can be a powerful tool.

In a Bull Risk Reversal, the investor buys the call and sells the put. It’s an ultra-bullish position as buying a call is a bullish position, and so is selling a put.

A Covered Call is a strategy in which the trader holds a long position in a stock and writes (sells) a call option on the same stock in an attempt to generate income.

All options are a wasting asset whose time value erodes to zero by expiration. This erosion is known as time decay.