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I received a great question this afternoon that I thought I would share with all my subscribers. The reader’s question was regarding the buyer of 30,000 October 40 Calls, and my writing that the trader needs the stock to rally $5.50 in the next 24 days to break even on the trade.

When share prices fall, it’s important to determine whether the situation will last for a couple of months, which can be quite normal, or for several years, which can be insufferable.

The options market can tell you a lot about what to expect during earnings season. Here’s what it’s saying about these three upcoming reports.

After rising for months, a “real” growth stock correction is under way. How long will it last? And how to fortify your portfolio?

The Salesforce-Tableau Software merger has investment ramifications for both companies, their industry - and possibly your portfolio.

Bank dividends and share repurchases got a big boost after this week’s Fed stress tests. It could be the beginning of a longer rebound in financials.

The market got dealt some bad pieces of news this week—and by “bad” we mean higher-than-expected inflation and better-than-expected retail sales and jobless claims, which raise the prospects of more aggressive Fed tightening. That’s led to some selling yesterday and again this morning.

It’s too early to tell whether the stimulus-prompted resurgence in China’s equity markets will last, but aggressive investors can consider targeting this undervalued e-commerce play.

Finding promising small-cap stocks is only half the battle. Once you’ve found them, how do you manage them? These five steps can help make you a smarter small-cap investor.

Eight weeks ago as marijuana stocks topped, I began selling and taking profits and that’s worked out well. We’ve lost less than the index, as the correction took down first marijuana stocks and then all stocks. At the same time, our strongest stocks have gained.

The market had another constructive week, which by our thinking makes it three in a row. Coming into today, most indexes were up in the 1.5% to 2% range, which keeps the nascent intermediate-term green light (received last week) intact.

I received a great question this afternoon that I thought I would share with all my subscribers. The reader’s question was regarding the buyer of 30,000 October 40 Calls, and my writing that the trader needs the stock to rally $5.50 in the next 24 days to break even on the trade.

The major indexes have been flopping around this week, with some ups and downs, though things are quieting down just a bit. Growth funds have been mostly in the same boat, choppy but up a smidge on the week. Not the worst, not the best.

AMD stock has been one of the market’s best performers. But yesterday it fell 20% on earnings. The decline wasn’t really about the earnings.

The holiday-shortened week picked up where last week ended—on the downside—and while yesterday showed a brief bump, the sellers have remained at it since. Following this morning’s inflation report, the major indexes are getting clobbered today, and for the week, are down in the 3% to 4% range.

Today, I’m going to lay out my bull and bear cases for the stock market. There are certainly some red flags, but we may be in the early innings of a major bull run.

Despite a Ukraine conflict that’s roiled markets, Explorer stocks had a good week. And while Sea (SE) reported a mixed and disappointing quarter, Ford (F) made a big announcement as it moves into a new era.

The Facebook/Meta stumble will weigh on markets today as we await earnings on Amazon (AMZN) and Ford (F). Explorer stocks did well this week as markets continue to be volatile. Total electric vehicle sales in 2021 including hybrid vehicles doubled the number from 2020, which brings us to the Explorer’s new recommendation.

Current Market Outlook


The first week of the year was extremely volatile, but all in all the action ended up positive, with major indexes kissing fresh all-time highs and many leading stocks ending up nicely on the week. Overall, then, not much has changed—the primary evidence remains positive, so we’re content to ride things higher, but there’s little doubt the environment is hot and heavy (basically the opposite of what we saw 10 months ago), so you should continue to keep your feet on the ground (trail stops, take partial profits when available) and be discerning with your buys (aiming to enter after a bit of rest or some sharp shakeouts to support areas).

Because of this, most of our buy ranges are a bit below current prices (looking for pullbacks), though we still see some solid setups. One is Snap (SNAP), which is a clear leader in the internet space and has just returned to its highs after its first test of the 10-week line since its October blastoff.

Stock Name	Price	Buy Range	Loss Limit
8x8, Inc. (EGHT)	35.5	32.5-34.5	27.5-29
LPL Financial Holdings (LPLA)	116.8	108-112	97-99
The Mosaic Company (MOS)	26.8	25-27	21.5-22.5
Palo Alto Networks (PANW)	364.6	345-360	310-320
Progyny (PGNY)	44.9	40.5-43	36.5-38
Snap Inc. (SNAP)	54.4	53-55	47-48.5
Spotify (SPOT)	344.2	335-347	297-304
Sunrun (RUN)	95.8	87-91	74-77
Vale S.A. (VALE)	18.6	17.4-18.2	15.8-16.2
Zillow (Z)	143.2	134-140	119-122