Fed Rate Hike Could Come in November

Lior Alkalay - INO.com Contributor - Forex


Once again a Fed rate decision is coming. Yet, unlike the rate decision in September, investors are at ease. Recently, we've seen disappointing non-farms, weak retail sales and plunging new home sales. So, given that, it would seem that the Fed's decision is obvious. Of course, investors have come to the conclusion that a rate hike won't be coming. But investors are wrong, both in the perception of a soft US economy and in their conclusion.

Housing Market Not Really Weak

The first argument that Fed doves are using is the weak new home sales figure. It's true; the figure did undershoot. But take a look at US housing in the global scheme of things. It means nothing. In fact, the US housing market is actually getting stronger.

Here's why… Continue reading "Fed Rate Hike Could Come in November"

Leveraging Covered Call Options To Augment Returns And Mitigate Risk

Leveraging covered call options in opportunistic scenarios may augment overall portfolio returns while mitigating risk. 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 contracts. In the event of a covered call, this is accomplished by leveraging the shares one currently owns by selling a call contract against those shares for a premium. Traders may also initiate a short or long position via the purchase of option contracts to the underlying security. An option is a contract which 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 a covered call is utilized and executed. Further details focusing on optimizing stock leverage (covered calls) and the ability to sell these types of options in a conservative way to generate cash in one’s portfolio will follow. Continue reading "Leveraging Covered Call Options To Augment Returns And Mitigate Risk"

Are The Stars Aligning For Oceaneering?

Adam Feik - INO.com Contributor - Energies


I happened to notice Oceaneering International (NYSE:OII) is flashing 3 green triangles on MarketClub.

This is a stock that last saw its shares trade at $86 per share on November 4, 2013 (almost exactly 2 years ago), hit a low of $37 on August 25 (almost exactly 2 months ago, on the same day the broad market touched its recent bottom), and is now changing hands at nearly $47.

That’s a 57% freefall over 22 months, followed by a 27% gain over 2 months. See for yourself:

Daily Chart of Oceaneering International Inc. (NYSE:OII)

Why should you care? Well, I don’t know that you should, seeing as how Oceaneering is in the business of providing engineering services primarily to deepwater drilling companies, which doesn’t exactly seem like a hot corner of the market these days. But… Continue reading "Are The Stars Aligning For Oceaneering?"

Tips For Choosing A Binary Options Broker

Vinz de la Fuente - INO.com Contributor - Binary Options


The Importance of a Broker

One of the most important things to be considered before someone becomes a binary options trader is to find a reputable Binary Options broker. The broker is the bridge to your investment and the market itself. If you want to gain profits, you should make sure that you are dealing with the right broker. Good strategies can be a big help in your trading activities, but you should have assurance with your account as well so that you will not have future conflicts in your payouts.

Here are some tips that I believe a trader should have in mind before joining any broker in the market.

Factors to be Considered

There are various factors that a trader needs to consider before making the final decision in choosing the right broker. Some of those factors are the broker’s regulations, their terms and conditions, the company capitalization, incentives and bonuses they offer, their trading platforms and their customer assistance. Continue reading "Tips For Choosing A Binary Options Broker"

Gold Update: Space Mission Aborted, Rescue Landing Is Ahead

Aibek Burabayev - INO.com Contributor - Metals


One of our regular readers was among the few who openly rejected the idea of Gold’s reversal to the upside, he sees a lower bottom for the metal.

So let’s see why I changed my mind and now think that we are not going to rocket higher soon. Below is my previous post’s daily chart. I've added remarks to the chart to show what went wrong.

Gold Daily: Post-Mortem

Daily Gold Chart FOREX:XAUUSDO
Chart courtesy of tradingview.com

I supposed that after we received the first bull confirmation of higher lows, we can fly higher at a distance of the 1.618 Fibonacci ratio in the green CD segment. One can notice that we hit a new high last Thursday around the $1192 level. So why should we cancel the bullish scenario now? Continue reading "Gold Update: Space Mission Aborted, Rescue Landing Is Ahead"