Tag: S&P 500 (CME:SP500)

Stock Market Feels The Squeeze

Posted on by The INO.com Team

The DOW dropped more than 600 pts Friday to finish January with its worst week since October losing over -3.2%. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ couldn't avoid a selloff, with both indexes losing -3.3% and -3.4%, respectively. The reason for the losses, a short squeeze of all short squeezes.

It started on January 25th when a group of retail investors identified Gamestop Corp (GME) as a buy on the WallStreetBets Reddit forum. This group of day traders continued to encourage each other to pile into GameStop's shares and call options, creating a massive short squeeze that inflicted pain for hedge funds betting against the stock. So much so that the trading app, Robinhood, seized trading mid-week of GME stock as well as several other stocks. After resuming trading Thursday, Robinhood has been limiting the number of shares that the retail investor can purchase.

All told, the short-selling hedge funds have suffered a loss of nearly 20 billion year to date, including a nearly $8 billion loss on Friday as the GME kept ripping higher. Still, short-sellers mostly are holding onto their bearish positions, or they are being replaced by new hedge funds willing to bet against the stock. GameStop shares that have been borrowed and sold short have declined by just about 5 million over the last week, marking an 8% dip in the short interest, according to S3. Most of the short-covering occurred on Thursday when the stock fell for the first time in six days, according to data from S3 Partners. Continue reading "Stock Market Feels The Squeeze" →

Stocks Set New Record Highs

Posted on by The INO.com Team

As expected, when there's a change of power, stocks have been all over the board this week, and after hitting record levels on Thursday, the major indexes are pulling back a touch heading into the weekend. The record highs now sit at 3,861.45 for the S&P 500, 31,27.22 for the DOW, and 13,560.22 for the NASDAQ.

But despite Friday's weakness, major averages are on pace to post a winning week. The S&P 500 is up +2.2% for the week so far. The DOW is up +0.6%, and the NASDAQ is up +3.8%.

Bitcoin took one on the chin this week, losing over -10% as we head into the weekend. The reason for the sudden selloff? Janet Yellen's comments about Bitcoin this week. She suggested on Tuesday that lawmakers "curtail" the use of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin over concerns that they are "mainly" used for illegal activities. Continue reading "Stocks Set New Record Highs" →

First Losing Week Of 2021

Posted on by The INO.com Team

The bull run that started in December had to take a breather after it extended into 2021 and this week was the week. Six of the seven markets that we track weekly will finish the week down, and the one market that is up may shock you.

We'll start with the three major indexes. The S&P 500, DOW, and NASDAQ will post their first weekly loss of the year and the first in four weeks, with losses standing at -1%, -.6%, and -1%, respectively.

The week's surprising winner is the US Dollar with a weekly gain of +.6%, marking its second straight week of gains, which was enough to trigger a new green weekly Trade Triangle, moving the US Dollar to a sidelines position. Continue reading "First Losing Week Of 2021" →

Another Day Another Record High For Bitcoin

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Bitcoin (BITSTAMPUSD) hit a new record high of $42,000 Friday afternoon, surpassing the previous all-time high of $40,123 that it reached on Thursday. Year-to-date gains are now over 40% making Bitcoin the strongest mover in 2021 by far. In typical bull market euphoria, Bitcoin's price has more than doubled in less than a month as new investors rush in, making sure they don't miss out. You know, FOMO, "fear of missing out," but is it too late?

Mutual fund titan Bill Miller told CNBC that "One of the things that's interesting about bitcoin is that it gets less risky the higher it goes, that's the opposite of what happens with most stocks."

He went on to say, "For those people who are waiting for the pullback, they got it in the first quarter. You could have bought bitcoin and $4,000 in the first quarter," Miller noted, referencing bitcoin's nearly 50% intraday crash in March 2020.

"But amid bitcoin's more than 300% rally in 2020 extended by an additional 40% gain already in 2021, Miller said, the price of these returns is the asset's volatility." Continue reading "Another Day Another Record High For Bitcoin" →

Winning Week For Stocks And Bitcoin

Posted on by The INO.com Team

Despite Friday's overall weakness, the three major indexes and Bitcoin were able to post weekly gains. The DOW gained +0.4% for the week while the S&P 500 advanced +1.3% for its fourth positive week out of the last five. The tech-heavy NASDAQ outperformed the other two indexes with a gain of +3.1% for the week.

On a daily level, the DOW fell 124.32 points or -0.4%, to 30,179.05. The S&P 500 dipped -0.4% or 13.07 points, to 3,709.41, and the NASDAQ lost -0.1% or 9.11 points, to 12,755.64. All three indexes touched new intra-day highs earlier in trading after closing at records in the previous session. Those records are 30,343.59, 3,726.70 and 12,809.60 respectively.

However, Bitcoin was the big winner for the week, gaining roughly +22% and setting an all-time high of 23,777 on the back of rising volume. Where did that increase in volume come from? The bitcoin "whales," of course. Often times, these large rallies are fueled by large investors with an ability to influence market trends. Sound familiar? Continue reading "Winning Week For Stocks And Bitcoin" →