Recent Blogs

Feb, 29, 2012

The slow-motion ascent remains in place - $SPX $VIX

By Lawrence G. McMillanOnce again, $SPX made new post-2008 closing and intraday highs, and now it has finally closed above the 2011 intraday highs (oh, and yes, the Dow Jones Industrials closed above...

Feb, 28, 2012

$SPX on "one of the five longest streaks of all time"

Commentary from last week's Option Strategist Newsletter was cited in Michael Santoli's The Market's Pullback Watch article featured in this past weekend's Barron's. See below:When the...

Feb, 24, 2012

Weekly Commentary 2/23/2012

By Lawrence G. McMillanThe S&P 500 Index ($SPX) pulled back only a little, but that was enough to alleviate some of the overbought conditions and to establish support at 1340.Equity-only put-call...

Feb, 23, 2012

More on Volatility ETN’s - VXX, XIV, VQT

By Lawrence G. McMillanIn the last issue, we laid out a trading system for VXX and XIV, the most liquid short-term volatility ETN’s. VXX uses the two front-month $VIX futures contract to...

Feb, 23, 2012

In focus: Bulls refuse to yield

By Lawrence G. McMillanIn a brazen display of strength, the stock market — as measured by the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index — held up very well this week. Tuesday was perhaps the...

Feb, 22, 2012

The important level for $SPX remains 1340

By Lawrence G. McMillanThe market had all kinds of good news hurdles to overcome yesterday, and it did a pretty good job of it. The number of traders looking to sell when either a) the Greek...

Feb, 17, 2012

Weekly Commentary 2/16/12

By Lawrence G. McMillanWas the two-day selloff on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week enough to refuel the bulls? It may have been.$SPX closed at a new high for this post-October rally, although...

Feb, 16, 2012

In focus: Cracks beginning to show

By Lawrence G. McMillanThe stock market has generally persisted in rising, albeit at a slower and slower pace, but it has taken on the appearance of a very tired entity. Therefore, we expect that the...

Feb, 10, 2012

Weekly Commentary 2/9/12

By Lawrence G. McMillanThe stock market refuses to back off. This is making TV commentators gleeful, but experienced traders are finding such one-sided action to be a bit dangerous.$SPX has not yet...

Feb, 09, 2012

A System For Trading VXX

By Lawrence G. McMillanThe CBOE’s Futures Exchange introduced futures on the volatility index, $VIX, in 2004 and began trading options on $VIX in 2006. The Barclay’s Volatility ETN...

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