Tag: Benzinga

What's Happening To The Smaller Banks?

Posted on by The INO.com Team

By: Tim Melvin of Benzinga

Consider the life of a banker running a small bank today.

It used to be a great life running one of these little banks. You oversaw a network of 10 or 15 branches in smaller towns or suburbs across the country and were a well-liked business leader of your community.

More than likely you weren't just a member of the Rotary and other civic groups, you were an officer of the group.

Bankers helped people buy homes, grow their businesses, put their kids through college and even save for and fund their retirement. The employees had good jobs and made decent money and really liked the bank and the officers. The stock price was at a nice premium from the original offering price and most folks in town were pretty excited about that. On weekends, the bankers probably played golf and went to local college games with local politicians, developers and car dealers. Continue reading "What's Happening To The Smaller Banks?" →

What Do The Cycles Say About October?

Posted on by The INO.com Team

By Dave & Donald Moenning, StartoftheMarkets.com

Based on the trading action yesterday, it appears that traders have moved into a schizophrenic mode as Tuesday's gains were reversed quickly at the open on Wednesday.

At issue is the simple fact that no one really knows what to expect in terms of the duration of the government shutdown. And, the bottom line is markets hate uncertainty.

Optimism Fading Fast

At least part of Tuesday's advance was based on the idea that the government shutdowns since 1980 have not produced large sell-offs in the stock market  While the algorithms have been trained to react at the speed of light to any and all headlines coming out of Washington D.C., reports made the rounds yesterday that historically, stocks have managed to advance the vast majority of the time (ten out of eleven occurrences) in the two weeks following a government shutdown. Continue reading "What Do The Cycles Say About October?" →

Go Global for Profits

Posted on by The INO.com Team

By Tim Melvin, Banking on Profits

Investors often suffer from home-team syndrome. US investors are particularly guilty of looking at only the stocks located in their home markets and ignoring the rest of the world.

The truth is that while something on the order of 11,000 stocks trade here in the United States, shares of more than 50,000 companies trade around the world. More than 1,800 companies trade on one of the various US exchanges, giving us unprecedented access to foreign securities.

As value becomes harder to find in the domestic markets, it makes a certain amount of sense to cast your eyes on the international markets in search of long-term returns.

Value Investing Continue reading "Go Global for Profits" →

Options vs. Options Spreads: How To Minimize Your Risk

Posted on by The INO.com Team

By: Nic Chahine

Investing in options is better than investing in stocks.
Today's post will show how there is an even better way of trading options. Consider this article to be part two of a three part series; the third part will follow in the coming days.

Even though investing in options provides a better bang for buck, one can immediately look for ways of perfecting the craft.

The Problem
The enemy of long options positions is time! All else held equal, out of the money long options positions will decay to zero and cause buyers a complete loss.

Example: a trader buys a September 500 put in Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) for $8.80 per contract. If Apple is over 500 on the expiration day (September 21), then the trader loses the entire $8.80, which is 880 per contract. Continue reading "Options vs. Options Spreads: How To Minimize Your Risk" →

Option Trade For A Range Bound Stock

Posted on by admin

By: Adam Beaty

Credit card companies have been nonexistent for the summer.

American Express (NYSE: AXP) and Visa (NYSE: V) have been trading in a range since May. Mastercard (NYSE: MA) has seen a little bit of action thanks to some better-than-expected earnings. The stock traders should focus on is American Express. AXP has traded in a range from $72.00 to $78.00, and right now is bouncing off the lower levels. AXP is oversold, so a bounce is probable here especially if there is a market bounce to go along with it. Traders could get long here with a first target at $73.30 and another target at $75.00. Continue reading "Option Trade For A Range Bound Stock" →