by Ben Weiss, for the Call to Leap Team With a few weeks of upward market momentum under our belt, Steve and I took a few bullish positions this week. However, with major indices like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq at or near their all-time highs, we'll be careful and thoughtful in our investing outlook moving forward. While the bullish trend could certainly continue, these all-time highs could alternatively act as bearish resistance limiting the market from advancing higher in the s

by Ben Weiss, for the Call to Leap Team Happy Friday, everyone! And apparently, happy National Pizza Party Day too...say less! We're just a week away from the unofficial start of summer, and we've got lots to celebrate, including pizza...because why not? 🍕 Before I wish everyone a safe and fun weekend, let's take a look at what happened this week and what's coming up... The market this week The market logged another positive, bright green week, building on previous upward mo

Welcome to our Wealth Building Community! Now, Let's Get Started... What: You're invited to join Steve and Ben for a Live Chat Q&A session and CTL orientation. When: Next Tuesday, May 21st from 5:00-6:00 pm PDT (8:00-9:00 pm EDT) Where: Click here to RSVP to the event or join us at meet.google.com/mpb-qggp-ncj Who: This event is open to premium members new to the CTL Community. Since this is a new offering, we're also inviting all premium members who want to learn more

by Ben Weiss, for the Call to Leap Team

by Ben Weiss, for the Call to Leap Team Happy Mother's Day weekend, everyone! I hope your families have a wonderful time doing whatever brings you joy 💙 And if you're looking for something memorable until Sunday brunch, just look up! Much of the US will be experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime display of the aurora borealis (aka Northern Lights) as far south as Florida. Crazy! To everyone looking up to their mothers or to the night sky, have a safe and fun weekend! Now let's ta

by Ben Weiss, for the Call to Leap Team Congrats — we made it through (most of) earnings season, everyone! With a cautiously bullish outlook, Steve and I took to trading some new positions this week. Let's take a look... Ben’s trades this week Well that escalated quickly... Steve and I both had open CSP positions in AMZN, including puts at the $175 and $177.50 strikes for various May expirations. Amazon had solid earnings results and investors responded by pushing the stock

by Ben Weiss, for the Call to Leap Team Happy May, everyone! We made it through the bulk of earnings season. Phew! Like Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum at the end of Independence Day , the market appears to be walking away from a few big weeks of earnings and economic data triumphantly, with maybe a bit of wreckage in the rear view mirror. 😉 Following a rocky start to April, the market has shown upward strength the past 2 weeks. We've now received earnings reports from all of t

by Ben Weiss, for the Call to Leap Team We saw some significant ups and downs on the market this week so I'm proceeding cautiously with opening new positions. This time last week, the sentiment was strongly bearish, at least in the short term. We saw a bullish bounce back in the second half of the week, but I'm not convinced yet that this trend will hold. Strong earnings results this upcoming week from major companies including AMZN, AMD, and AAPL may serve as a catalyst to d

by Ben Weiss, for the Call to Leap Team Happy Friday, everyone! What an interesting (maybe a bit crazy) week, right? The market acted sharply in both directions, making me and surely many investors wonder what's next. We started the week picking up where we left off last week, with continued losses broadly across the market. We received much-lower-than-expected GDP data midweek, higher-than-expected PCE inflation data next, and then closed out the week with some barn burners

by Ben Weiss, for the Call to Leap Team The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices broke through their previous supports and continued trending down this week so Steve and I are taking a more conservative and bearish stance for the time being. With such sharp declines in the indices this past week, there's always the chance for somewhat of a "rubber band" bounce back this week, so let's stay tuned. Until recently, we had been spoiled with a long, mostly uninterrupted bull run since late

by Ben Weiss, for the Call to Leap Team Happy Friday everyone. It was a doozy of a week on the market, but we made it through. I mean for the GIF above to be both humorous and serious. If you're paying any attention to the news and the stock market's movements lately, it's so easy to get wrapped up in all the bad news and the hype that's put out there—Remember: bad news sells and good news is "boring". Stock indices like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq along with the stock market as

by Ben Weiss, for the Call to Leap Team After an uncertain week chock full of impactful economic news , and heading into earnings season next week and the volatility that often brings, Steve and I both decided not to open any new positions this week. We still have some existing options positions open so that doesn't mean we're sitting on the sidelines completely. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices broke through their previous supports and are trending down currently so Steve and

by Ben Weiss, for the Call to Leap Team TGIF! I don't know about you, but this week felt extra busy. Work was work, Wall Street struggled with new economic data, and somehow I found time to make a pilgrimage to witness the sun magically disappear completely behind the moon. What a week! Thankfully, I doubt we'll have a repeat of all those events next week. 😉 Following a strong down week last week, we saw the market slip further as investors showed fear around inflation and i

by Ben Weiss, for the Call to Leap Team

by Ben Weiss, for the Call to Leap Team Deep breaths, everyone! We made it to the weekend and successfully weathered one of the worse weeks on the market this year. We've been spoiled by a nearly uninterrupted bull run throughout the first quarter of the year, when the market historically likes to take a breather after the holiday "Santa Rally". As we'll explore deeper in a minute, the major indices kicked off Q2 2024 by taking a step back from their recent unchecked all-time

by Ben Weiss, for the Call to Leap Team March Madness... The market had another positive week overall, although a little bit flatter compared to the string of recent strong bullish weeks we've seen. Many of our favorite megacap stocks for trading options, like AMZN, GOOGL, and even MSFT, are sitting at or near their all-time highs, which can make it tricky to jump into new bullish options. I see a few challenging factors at play: Psychologically, traders will often get "stuck

by Ben Weiss, for the Call to Leap Team Happy Friday, everyone! And Happy Easter weekend for those celebrating. If not, there's lots of college basketball March Madness to watch this weekend (my favorite sport). And if that's not for you, today is also National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day, a tasty way to kick off the weekend! With spring in the air and cherry blossoms in bloom for us here on the East Coast, I feeling a sense of rejuvenation and gratitude for being part of the CTL

by Ben Weiss, for the Call to Leap Team Closing time... The market had a strong bullish week, and I had good opportunities to close out a number of my bullish cash-secured puts, including GOOGL $145 put, CVS $72.50 put, and CMCSA $40 put. Each of these had declined 75% or more in value and had at least 2 weeks left until expiration, so it was worth it to me to pay a small amount of premium back to remove all the risk from the table. Steve and I also closed our GOOGL LEAPS thi

by Ben Weiss, for the Call to Leap Team Happy Friday, everyone! And Happy International Goof Off Day! For those who knows me well, I don't need anyone to declare a holiday for me to act goofy, but I certainly won't turn down the opportunity! But before goofing off for the weekend, let's take a look at what happened this week and what's coming up... The market this week After a few choppy weeks recently, we finally saw a solidly positive week in the US market. The megacap Mag

by Ben Weiss, for the Call to Leap Team