Insights
Tax tips, options trading ideas, and market takes — updated regularly.
Exxon and Chevron report Friday, Oct. 30. Two data providers show different consensus numbers for Exxon. Here is why, and how dividends, buybacks and oil prices fit into reading the results.
The Philadelphia semiconductor index fell eight straight sessions through Oct. 16, losing 15.7%. Here is what the streak looked like in numbers, why a loss that size needs a larger gain to erase, and what concentration means.
Option Care Health agreed to a $32.05 cash buyout, and the stock jumped about 33% but stalled near $31. That gap, the deal spread, reflects time, regulatory risk, and what happens if the deal breaks.
In February, PepsiCo cut prices on Lay's and Doritos by up to nearly 15%. By late September, it was planning increases on some chips, sodas and dips. Its Oct. 8 earnings offer a live lesson in pricing power versus volume, and in why investors watch both.
The Fed raised rates in September to fight energy-driven inflation. Two weeks later, data showed just 29,000 jobs added. Here's why those facts pull the Fed in opposite directions, and what the Oct. 7 minutes, Oct. 14 CPI, and Oct. 28 decision could reveal.
Rocket Lab and AST SpaceMobile were retail favorites heading into 2026, then fell more than 60% from their May highs. The real lesson isn't which stocks to pick — it's how much of a portfolio a pick like that should ever be.
A single shipping chokepoint is raising costs and revenue for the same companies at the same time. Maersk's back-to-back guidance hikes are a real-world lesson in how geopolitical risk shows up in earnings — and in options pricing.
A surprisingly weak jobs report has reopened the debate over the Fed's next move. If a cut does come, it would affect your cash and your bonds in opposite ways — here's the mechanic worth understanding either way.
Amazon crossed a $3 trillion market cap this week, becoming the fifth company ever to do it. The bigger story for everyday investors: how much of a supposedly diversified index fund now rides on a handful of names.
The next monthly options expiration falls on August 21, just weeks after the Fed's July rate decision and four Big Tech earnings reports. Here's what that expiration actually is, and why thinner summer liquidity can make it feel different.
Twenty states are running sales tax holidays in 2026, with the biggest wave landing August 7-9. The exemptions, price caps, and per-item cliffs vary sharply by state — here's how to read the fine print (general education, not advice; confirm current rules with your state).
BlackRock became the first asset manager to cross $15 trillion in assets, fueled by record ETF inflows. It's a good excuse to learn how to read AUM and fund-flow data, and why money moving into ETFs isn't the same as the market going up.