bigdog’s Blog posts
Holiday Shopping Trends to Watch
Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and holiday shopping season trends are always fascinating to me as a closet economist. Since nearly all holiday shopping is discretionary, it feels like a pretty a... more
Get Ready for an Upgraded TradeKing!
We’re making fantastic progress in merging with Zecco and in the coming days you’ll see several exciting upgrades as part of that effort. Here’s a sneak peek at all the goodies coming your way:... more
Happy Thanksgiving!
Here’s wishing you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving and thanks again for choosing TradeKing! It’s a daily pleasure to interact with all of you in our Trader Network, and we’re continually gra... more
Farewell, Mike!
Today’s post is a salute to Michael Raneri, Zecco’s former CEO and my dear friend since middle school. Mike has decided to move on from TradeKing and his last day in the office is today. I can... more
Investing & Trading as the “Fiscal Cliff” Looms
Now that the presidential election results are in, the markets seem to have instantly moved on to a fresh source of uncertainty: the so-called “fiscal cliff” on January 1, when a series of agg... more
TradeKing NYC Survives Hurricane Sandy
Venice on the Hudson I’m still not quite over the emotional roller-coaster of watching Hurricane Sandy’s destruction to New York City and environs on TV last week. As a long-time resident in c... more
TradeKing’s Pre-Election Survey Results Are In
Since polling is so incredibly hot this election season, we decided to angle our quarterly client survey towards measuring investor sentiment and how the presidential race could impact the mar... more
Our Merger with Zecco: Exciting Changes on the Horizon!
Things are humming along in our merger with Zecco, so I wanted to share the latest with all of you. You’ll notice our first big change above: introducing our brand-new logo! The new TradeKing l... more
Register by 11/2 for Savings on Our NEW Options Course with Dan Sheridan!
We’re excited to announce a NEW collaboration between TradeKing Education and Sheridan Options Mentoring. If you’re ready to learn options trading from scratch but would rather not “go it alone”... more
Do You Speak Financial Jargon-ese?
I have a funny relationship with financial lingo. On the one hand, I love all the colorful terms traders and financial types use to spice up their everyday speech. (Option trading alone has it... more
The Payback on College Tuition
Cookie Jar With the ballooning cost of college tuition, have you ever wondered if a college degree’s ROI justifies the considerable – and growing - expense? I wondered aloud on this question in... more
Individual Investors Beating Pros at their Own Game
Now here’s a headline I like to see: Josh Brown of TheReformedBroker.com told Yahoo! Finance about a very surprising – and a very encouraging! – development in the markets. “After sitting o... more
What’s Up With American Airlines ($AAMRQ)?
Grounded Have you folks been following this very bizarre – and still unfolding – story of American Airlines (AAMRQ)’s disastrous flying record this fall? This story, “American Fail Lines” by ... more
Not Again! The “Financial Transaction Tax”
Triple Letter Tax This wrong-headed idea about a financial transaction tax never quite seems to die. In its latest iteration, the “Inclusive Prosperity Act” (HR 6411), Keith Ellison (Dem-MN) p... more
A 21-Gun Salute to Earl W. Sandel
Today I’m paying tribute to a real American hero, Earl W. Sandel – his son Chris Sandel is a Vice President here at TradeKing. I never met Earl personally, but he was one of those people whose ... more
What’s Your Trading Manifesto?
Straw poll, folks: how many of you could distill your personal trading philosophy into a short manifesto? It’s an interesting exercise, and certainly an invaluable one for anyone looking to lear... more
Social Media for Business Grows Up
I’m excited to join Forbes’ “Devil’s Advocate” columnist Chunka Mui in a panel discussion about social media for business. I’ll be talking with execs from Stocktwits, Q4 Web Systems (a tool for ... more
The Mighty Controversy of Facebook Stock ($FB)
Where do you net out on the controversy swirling around Facebook ($FB) stock? FB has clocked in repeatedly as a most-active stock among TradeKing clients, and conversation on FB has been similar... more
In Memoriam: OldFart
R.I.P. Old Friend I wanted to post a tribute specifically for your friend and mine, OldFart, who passed away on July 29 – we all just confirmed this fact a few days ago. Simply put, our Trader... more
The DIY Investor Strikes Back
Could DIY investing offer a path back to prosperity during the Great Recession? A recent article in SmartMoney, The DIY Investor by Reshma Kapadia, suggests many folks battered by the recession t... more
