Stocks fell hard this morning and are trying to recover as the market processes the news that Spain is out of money.  At this point who really cares but the Bears are out in full force preying on volatility and fear of a market collapse.  The iPath S&P 500 VIX ST Futures ETN (VXX) is up 8% today and is the weapon of choice for traders.

July had a break on the 4th for trading.  We review Thurs and Friday which included some stellar 52-week highs, Jerry Seinfeld, a bottom in volatility, and the big jobs report.

July 4th 2012 is here and volatility while it stays (hopefully at record lows).  None the less its time to review some of the best stock picks of the week including some defensive plays, short squeezes, and anything but RIM.

Its that time yet again -- the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures TM ETN (VXX) just hit a fresh new 52-week low.  You know the drill, its time to buy some VXX as a protection should fear and panic enter into the market (again). 

What's a Covered Call?

The covered call is a strategy where an investor writes a call option contract (sells an option) while at the same time owning an equivalent number of shares of the underlying stock.If this stock is purchased simultaneously with writing the call contract, the strategy is commonly referred to as a buy-write.

While you may have heard that trading options is risky business, covered calls are actually a very conservative strategy, and most brokerages even allow retirement IRA accounts to write covered calls.

Whereas there was excessive fear surrounding the Greek elections, now complacency is much too high with a shaky market.  A spike in volatility, or the VIX, can result when compl

Last Friday was bad enough, now we have more uncertainty to look forward to which means volatility is going to be the true winner.  Here comes the pain.

Its almost that time again fellow Masters, we've done this trade countless times -- Buy the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short Term Futures TM ETN (VXX) when it hits a 12 month low.  Only 3.8% more and we execute this trade again.

The VIX has formed a tight bull flag pattern over the last two weeks in April, and a breakout would spike the VIX close to 23.  VXX is one way to play it.  The more aggressive U

What's a Covered Call?

The covered call is a strategy where an investor writes a call option contract (sells an option) while at the same time owning an equivalent number of shares of the underlying stock.If this stock is purchased simultaneously with writing the call contract, the strategy is commonly referred to as a buy-write.

While you may have heard that trading options is risky business, covered calls are actually a very conservative strategy, and most brokerages even allow retirement IRA accounts to write covered calls.