Actionable market insight, option trade ideas, and investment education for individual investors.

SPX sees lowest close since February

Thu 12:15 AM CT

Mirroring Tuesday's session, U.S. equity indexes opened higher and closed lower yesterday with the Nasdaq 100 leading the downside as shares of Apple continued to slide.

Videocast: Is volatility heading higher?

Wed 12:13 PM CT

Chris McKhann, filling in for Group One's Jamie Tyrrell, says investors are buying calls on the VIX, looking for the turbulence in the market into the spring and summer.

Puts show support for Pharmacyclics

Wed 11:10 AM CT

Shares of the drug developer have been pausing after a monster run, and one investor is willing to get long on a pullback.

AngloGold Ashanti attracts big call sale

Wed 10:42 AM CT

As shares of the South African gold miner bounce off their lowest levels since 2009, a large option trade sees limited upside.

Largest option buying in equities so far

Wed 10:30 AM CT

Nearing the halfway mark in today's session, here are the individual equity names with the most call and put buying on optionMONSTER's ActionTracker data system.

Index, ETF option volumes near midday

Wed 10:25 AM CT

Total option volume tops 6.2 million contracts so far today, while hedging still appears to be the name of the game in indexes and ETFs, optionMONSTER's data systems show.

Google breaks through key resistance

Wed 9:54 AM CT

Google has been trading sideways since gapping lower a month ago, but today it appears to be breaking above established resistance.

May VIX settlement comes in at 21.46

Wed 9:32 AM CT

The May options will be based on that price, which is just about where the spot VIX opened even though more than 400,000 S&P 500 options traded this morning.

Freeport-McMoRan sees large put trade

Wed 9:14 AM CT

The mining company has been in a downtrend from above $47 in early February, and yesterday's close was its lowest since the stock's 52-week in early October.

Cramer: Expect more European fallout

Wed 8:49 AM CT

Why can't we just shrug off Europe? Why are we simply "not as bad" as they are, and our stocks "don't go down as much as they do"?

J.C. Penney plunges as losses deepen

Wed 7:27 AM CT

The department-store operator misses earnings estimates and lowers outlook; Sina gains as losses come in narrower than expected; Berkshire stake lifts General Motors.