An August High As Option Speculation Ramps Up
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Jason Goepfert
Published: 2018-09-05 at 12:51:14 CDT
This is an abridged version of our Daily Report.
Summer high
Stocks ended August at their highest monthly close in at least 36 months. A new high in August has preceded poor returns during the next 1-4 weeks as September lived up to its reputation. The S&P struggled to hold its gains, especially during the past 30 years.
A speculative week
Last week, options traders focused heavily on bullish strategies. The ratio of bullish to bearish ones was one of the highest in more than 5 years, as both small and large options traders spent a large part of their volume buying call options.
Not quite panic
Gold mining stocks suffered yet another large loss and a 52-week low. That’s 6 such losses in 20 sessions, among the largest selling clusters in 25 years.
New loser
The battle for most-hated commodity seems to keep alternating between coffee and one of the grains. The record pessimism toward the former has eased a bit, leaving soybeans holding the current title for most-hated.
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The post titled An August High As Option Speculation Ramps Up was originally published as on SentimenTrader.com on 2018-09-05.
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