Yahoo Finance

The numbers are out and shares of Nvidia aren't doing much. It's all quiet on the AI front it seems. Based on options pricing, the market was looking for at least an 8% move either way. The option buyers will get smacked, but the option sellers will win as volatility or premium gets sucked out of both call and put options on the stock. Yesterday, we talked about the market's other fixation, namely yields on Treasury bonds. The 10-year finished Wednesday at 4.41%, the five-year at 4.28%, and the two-year at 4.32%. So while the two/10 spread is back in positive territory, it's not by much. The two/10 curve is flat after it went slightly positive at the start of September. Going back to 1980, we note that when the curve has gone positive, it has widened out very quickly. In addition, history shows that when the curve goes positive, the stock market and the economy have suffered, sometimes terribly. A few examples are 1982, 1990, 2000, and 2007. That could put a chill into stocks, although no one is talking about it as they did in recent years. Indeed, this time might be different as the Federal Reserve took the fed funds rate to 0% and left it there for two years. Surprisingly, the twos, fives, and 10s have gone nowhere since late 2022. The next key overhead region for the fives and 10s is 4.7% and then 5%. If the long end continues higher, we think stocks should be fine unless the speed of the advance is quick. If that happens, all heck could break out for stocks. Gradual is good! (Mark Arbeter, CMT)

The Vickers Top Insider Picks is a daily report that utilizes a proprietary algorithm to identify 25 companies with compelling insider purchase histories based on transactions over the past three months.

Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile is a Chilean commodities producer with significant operations in lithium (primarily used in batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems), specialty and standard potassium fertilizers, iodine (primarily used in X-ray contrast media), and solar salts. The company extracts these materials through its high-quality salt brine deposits and caliche ore. SQM is developing a hard rock lithium project in Australia and expanding its lithium refining assets in China.

The Vickers Top Insider Picks is a daily report that utilizes a proprietary algorithm to identify 25 companies with compelling insider purchase histories based on transactions over the past three months.