Monday morning's selling handed the markets their roughest day since July, courtesy of Evergrande - a Chinese property juggernaut in debt to the tune of $300 billion and struggling to make payments on the debt.
The selling suggested people were scared stiff of a "Lehman moment," but when the sun came up Tuesday morning after all, and those same people looked ahead to the FOMC meeting, they started buying. Buying cautiously, and inconsistently, but buying.
Here's the thing... My proprietary VIX "traffic light" is flashing yellow, and the VIX itself sits above 24, which suggests the volatility we saw Monday might not be over with; the Evergrande story itself is too big to wrap itself up neatly after one trading session, no matter how wild.
With that in mind, I'm looking closely at four stocks that could move our way at virtually any second now...
Here's a Promising Weekly Watch List
The first "stock" on my list isn't actually a stock at all - it's an exchange-traded fund (ETF), and not one you hear about all the time (unless you're one of my Profit Revolution subscribers). It's the Barclay's iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (BATS: VXX). The focus on the VIX is so intense right now that investors overlook this one at their peril - a strong statement, but that's how I see it. VXX returns between one and one-and-a-half times the performance of the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index, and you really want to look at being long on the VIX right now. VXX has some pretty cheap calls expiring on Friday - and cheap calls are exactly how you make asymmetric - low-risk, high-reward - returns. In particular, I'm looking at the VXX Sept. 24, 2021 $30 calls, expiring Friday, or the $30-$40 call spread if you're interested in cutting your risk even further.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) took a pounding along with just about everything else on Monday, falling more than 2% before it was all said and done. AAPL shares were rebounding Tuesday, but the buying was fairly tepid - like it was across the market. This stock is down more than $10 from the 52-week highs reached a few weeks ago, which makes this blue chip a tempting target.
Despite all of this, AAPL options are cheap right now, just like I like 'em. I particularly like the AAPL Oct. 1, 2021 $140 puts.
Robinhood Markets Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOD) is on my radar screen right now, in a big way. I like this stock for a fall. Yes, we've heard some rumblings about the SEC pulling the rug out from underneath Robinhood and doing away with the "payment for order flow" (PFOF) that allows it to offer "zero-commission trades." That's a ways off, if it's coming at all, but I think HOOD shares will move much lower before then. Why? Well, meme stocks move up faster than anything else in the market... but that sword cuts two ways. Meme stocks fall faster, too, and Robinhood is extremely sensitive to that.
Folks looking to take advantage of the drop should check out HOOD Jan. 21, 2021 $32 puts.
Blue-chip Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) is a massive, legacy name in tech, renowned for database software. It's the second-largest software company in the world by revenue, in fact.
I'm not here to go over the business case for Oracle, but it's enough to say that it's one of very, very few big-name stocks that are up over the past few days; Apple sank more than most, but Oracle sank much less than most. That's an excellent sign of strength. I don't have a trade in mind for this one, but when the market gets its legs back, ORCL will outperform.
If I do see a trade opportunity for ORCL shares, I'll let my Profit Revolution subscribers know. I drop a new live trade every day the markets are open - whether stocks are moving up or down. Each trade I recommend has the potential to make 1,000% in 30 days or less, and I'd love for you to be able to get the next one. Take a look here and learn how.
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