Monday
Earnings Announcements: Novellus (NVLS)

Tuesday
Economic Reports: Core PPI, PPI, Retail Sales

Will this be the month that we finally see inflation take hold? If expectations come true, it very well could be. PPI is anticipated to show an increase of nearly 1%. Core PPI (which excludes food and energy costs) is expected to show an increase of 0.10%. Read the full story

On October 29, 2008 a pipeline company, Western Gas, announced plans that made its shareholders very happy. I wasn’t a shareholder at the time but its announcement caught my attention and I began following the company. Two months later I recommended it to my readers. In the following six months its shares rose 15 percent. Read the full story

Monday

Economic Reports: Leading Indicators

The Leading Indicators report isn’t much of a market mover since it contains previously released data, but it is still worth noting that it is indicating another down month. While the expected decline in March isn’t as bad as the previous month, we are still going in the wrong direction. Read the full story

A stock option is simply a contract to buy or sell a specific stock during a certain period of time. The contract itself is very precise. It establishes a specific price, called the strike price, at which the contract may be exercised, or acted on prior to the expiration date.

Options come in two varieties, CALLS and PUTS. You purchase call options if you think the stock is going up and you purchase put options if you think the stock is going down. It is just that simple. Read the full story