POSTED ON February 26, 2021 BY Jeremy

Sure, this week has been rough for traders and the markets overall, but it was a great month. Weeks like this are reminders to separate yourself from the recent daily volatility and look at the long-term trend. How do you do this? I’ll show you in today’s video.
As for the overall markets, let’s get into it. Friday was as volatile as they come, with the Dow dropping -1.5% or -475 pts. The S&P 500 had lost -2.5% but pushed back strong into the close but fell just short of finishing in the green with a loss of -.48% or -18.49 pts, and while the NASDAQ shed -3.5% early in the day, it also bounced back to post a daily gain of +.56% or +72.91.

The S&P 500 is down -2.45% for the week, on pace for its second negative week in a row. The DOW has fallen -1.8%, and the NASDAQ way underperformed this week with its worst week since October, losing -4.9% on the week.

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Option Trading – Getting Started
Trading, in general, is a highly technical field that not only requires would-be participants to have some understanding of what a particular trade is or how it works, but also an in-depth knowledge of what goes into a particular trade. In short, it is critical to learn the basics of options trading and have some elementary knowledge that will serve as the foundation as you continue to learn more about options trading.  Personally, I keep things simple and conservative.

Here are some tips that may help build your foundation when starting with options trading:

Know the lingo. Option trading has its own jargon that may seem like a foreign language to people who do not know a thing about trading. To many, the terminology commonly used in trading, regardless of the form, seem so complicated that they lose interest before they get even started.  While, the lingo of options trading may be downright complicated, don’t let this scare you away.  Once a trader manages to pick up some basic terms, it is much easier to understand how the everything works.  Do yourself a favor and study the definitions commonly used in options trading this will pave the way. 

If you want a shortcut to learning options trading, you may want to consider taking the following FREE course: Options Basic Boot Camp. This is a course I took when I first got started and I highly recommend it.  I still use these strategies today!  This is perfect for those just getting started…start with the basics and continuously improve your knowledge. 

Another option is to check out online tutorials. There are several websites and companies that offer online tutorials which may consist of interactive modules.  This can be a very useful learning tool. Interactive modules allow you to learn by practice. Here is an example of one of the courses available.  Options Trading Video Course (35 hours)

Take advantage by reading some options trading books as well. Web searches can provide the basics that you need to get started with options trading, but realize the internet can only provide you so much. The best learning is done by doing!  If you started your journey researching online, you will find that the websites dedicated to options trading and other types of trades only cover the basics: common terminology, risks involved, and other basic information. If you really want a thorough discussion, I recommend looking into books written by well-recognized authors. Remember the operative word- well recognized.   I am just a guy that started trading options for a little extra income, and am by no means a well-recognized author!  My goal was to pass along some of the tips I picked up along the way and hopefully help a few others that were in search of a little extra income just like I was.  There is a huge selection written on the subject and Amazon has no shortage to choose from…Here are some for you to consider.

Overall, the United States is in a good position for 2015 with healthy real estate markets and economic growth. Despite global headwinds, the U.S. economy and real estate markets will improve at a faster pace over the next three years, a welcome trend after five years of below average recovery. Capital flows to real estate will remain very strong in 2015, with overall real estate transaction levels close to or surpassing the pre-recession peak. Both equity and debt will be plentiful, and lenders will become increasingly aggressive in deploying capital.

These positive prospects have Investors very bullish on the outlook for commercial real estate; they are backing up that confidence by investing more capital in U.S. Real Estate.   According to LaSalle Investment Management's new 2015 Investment Strategy Annual (ISA) report, money will continue to flow into U.S real estate from across the capital markets worldwide.  High on the list are Canada, Australia, China, Korea and Middle Eastern countries.

U.S. real estate is widely considered to be among the safest bets for long-term investors.  Geopolitical conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East have accelerated the trend of investors seeking a safe haven in the U.S. real estate market. Anecdotally, we hear about new investors in the U.S. market who place competitive bids that are 10 percent higher than the next-highest bidder. This may result from poor market knowledge, but in some cases, foreign capital sources are simply willing to accept current yields that are close to zero, on the idea that values will increase over their anticipated long hold period. Results from a recent Marcus & Milichap Investor Sentiment Survey show that a majority of respondents (70 percent) plan to increase their commercial real estate holdings over the next 12 months

The consensus is that global investment sales in 2015 will exceed $650 billion or more, with the U.S. getting the most attention by far.  REITs clearly are contenders for properties and portfolios that meet their investment criteria, but prime assets in gateway markets are likely to end up in the hands of foreign investors willing to accept low current yields.

Some U.S. based pension funds are increasing their allocations to real estate as well, but these tend to be established players who understand market nuances and seek going-in yields of 4 to 5 percent. Those yields are low by historical comparison, but with interest rates also at historic lows, the spread between rates and yields still makes real estate a viable play. For investment advisors, the number-one concern right now is the impact on values if interest rates were to rise too quickly, thus resulting in a corresponding drop in property values.

Despite concerns that too much money could push yields to artificially low levels, so far we’ve seen little evidence of this happening. New development has been increasing, but the pace of construction is still well below the average over the past 30 years.  So, while it’s important to beware of over-developing, there’s little actual evidence of it today.

Another positive sign, tenant demand is on the rise, U.S. corporate profits are high, and job growth has been steady.  GDP growth has been slow, but steady over the past several years. Some market watchers believe this pace can be sustained for at least a few more years. A predictable slow-growth economy, resulting in further occupancy increases, rent growth and value gains, could add a counterweight of demand to balance out the rising wave of capital. Rising property values based on increasing cash flow is the ideal scenario for growth of commercial real estate.