larry levin

Last weeks market tug of war seemed to be better than expected U.S. earning versus European woes. Europe clearly won Friday as the markets spent the good part of the trading session face down in the mud, refusing to move after their loss. While a number of big names including General...

Since day one of Ben Bernanke’s testimony did not provide any clear signs of when we could see another round of quantitative easing, Big Ben has gone into obfuscation mode and he’s playing it close to the vest. Perhaps, we might need to look at the moon for a market tip. On Tuesday Mr...

The Dodd-Frank Act, the financial reform measures that Congress passed in the summer of 2010, (or more aptly name The Frankly-Do-nothing Act) called for the majority of the $600 trillion derivative market, including credit default swaps, to be traded on exchanges and for transactions to go...

Fridays stock indices all closed markedly higher, which came after huge higher gap opens. What happened in between the higher gap opens and the close was nothing. The markets were deaduntil the closing bell. Only then was there life when the markets went even higher on a short covering...

In the fallout from the 2008 global financial crisis, there have been moments that have been driven by pure fear. These are the moments when it can be hard to maintain your composure and trade your plan. Unfortunately, these big days are the times when you need that composure the most. Here is a...

The Eurocollapse is coming, the Eurocollapse is coming! US markets finished lower Monday pricing in the expectation that the upcoming EU Summit will be an exercise in futility and may as well be run by rabble rousing soccer hoodlums. George Soros may not have a solution, but he can certainly...

In 2002 a film entered movie theatres across the country and quickly became successful for its comedic value and charm: My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Whats playing out on Fraud Street and in every political chamber of the world is not a comedy, but a tragedy. If this tragedy had a name it...

Mirror, mirror on the wall; whos the most rigged of them all? The mirror in this fairy tale of free markets responds Boxing. No wait, Im changing my answer: global equity markets. Mondays market action was a mirror image of Fridays the same but backward. As you know by now, Friday...

Let's take another look at a more advanced technical tool - Bollinger Bands. These were developed by John Bollinger in the 1980s. In simple terms, they use a simple moving average and standard deviations to give a different perspective on potential highs and lows. Bollinger Bands have a middle...

It’s just another day in the new financial-bizzaro world where any little piece of data may move the markets. Forget imploding Europe or mounting debt levels, the market “reportedly” went higher on a better than expected ISM Non-Mfg number. You may ask, what the heck is the ISM Non-Mfg number...

Day trading is probably one of the most misunderstood labels in the industry. Some people might picture a random trader acting like a cowboy just buying and selling with pure abandon. Others might imagine a seasoned vet pouring over charts and analysis, looking for a chance to try to scoop up a...

There’s always a bright side to things, just ask the markets. All three headline composites of the latest Case Shiller home price index were lower for the first quarter 2012. In fact, home prices in many cities are at the lowest levels since the housing crisis began. This “good news”...

After the long weekend, its time to get back to reality. And reality can be quiet sobering. Last Friday the S&P futures closed at the lowest levels of the week. Last Monday's surge provided all the pump for what seemed a hopium filled few days. In addition, Fridays volume and volatility were...

One of the biggest moments for the markets can come when there is a key news release or fresh fundamental data. Buyers and sellers seem to wrestle with the potential outcome, and in the case of larger announcements, volatility goes through the roof. The problem that I see some traders struggle...

Sorry Fraud street bankers, your friends at the Treasury may be limiting your access to the golden goose. According to a report released by Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/21/us-usa-treasuries-china-idUSBRE84K11720120521), China can now bypass Wall Street when buying U.S...

Greece may soon be back dealing in drachmas adrift alone in the Adriatic, JP Morgan and the other banks continue to be loosely regulated trading liabilities, and job growth continues to be anemic at best. But fear not, the media trumpeted the headline this morning that homebuilder confidence...

While the sobering news from Europe has finally started to weigh on US stocks, I thought I’d add gasoline to the fire and remind everyone of the twisted morass that’s our own domestic financial situation. The top 5 banks in the US now account for a massively disproportionate amount of the...

When Ben Bernanke was appointed as Chairman of the Federal Reserve seven years ago, the national debt was $7,932,709,661,723.50. For those of you not interested in counting digits, that number is nearly a cool $8 trillion, but still a tough sum to wrap your brain around. After yesterdays...

A question I often receive is, "How can there be more buyers or sellers at one price? Isn't there a buyer for every seller and a seller for every buyer?" The answer is yes, but people are forgetting one important thing. There is a bid and an ask (or offer), and only one of them can be traded at...

It seems that the main drink on the menu for the market is the FOMC report which will be served during tomorrow afternoons cocktail hour, after they wrap-up their two day meeting. All the drinks will of course be served with a garnish of Apple earnings, which came in far better than expected...