Economic instability is like battling a raging wildfire with no clear path to safety. You can easily get caught off guard and not even know where to start. What we need to do first is take some stock of how we got here. This began as a dumpster fire and was fueled by many different sparks before it got so ablaze. A legacy of kicking the gas can down the road to disguise economic downturns has been like a Molotov cocktail; exploding inflation that has spiraled out of control. Incompetent and malevolent governments lit the fuse of global political tensions, with seemingly nobody fit to put out the flames. These factors have created a financial reality, where everything from your retirement portfolio to the cost of your weekly groceries swings wildly, leaving responsible Canadians feeling like the whole house of cards is burning down. How Markets Move in Uncertain Times When uncertainty strikes, markets dance to their own wild rhythm. Stocks can be jittery, prices bouncing around as com

The corporate governance world is undergoing a disturbing change. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are constructs that are being pushed to the very top of the corporate agenda. At the same time, supposedly 'green' (i.e., environmentally friendly) concerns have been rapidly relegated to a more obscure part of the agenda. There is thus an increasing insistence that companies, and the colleges and universities that educate corporate leaders, first and foremost, must reckon with DEI as a top priority. Not leaving any stone unturned, the new insistence is also influencing corporate governance not just as a matter of who gets to rule over what (the usual description of governance), but as also having everything to do with how the rulers over business accomplish their agenda of reconstituting the societies in which we all live. Powerful organizations, such as BlackRock—under the direction of its CEO, Larry Fink—and think-tanks such as the World Economic Forum (WEF), are the driving fo

Last updated on:   Source:  Calendar Spread  (wallstreetmojo.com) A Comprehensive Guide to Calendar Spreads and How to Use Them as a Powerful Trading Strategy Introduction: What is a Calendar Spread and How Does it Work? Calendar spreads are among the most popular options strategies used by traders. They involve buying and selling options of the same underlying asset but with different expiration dates. Traders can use calendar spreads to capitalize on different market conditions, such as when they expect a particular stock to remain range-bound or when they expect a stock to make a big move in either direction. It is also known as a time spread and is used to capitalize on the expected movement of the underlying stock over time. For example, to buy a calendar spread on AAPL stock, one might choose to sell a front month call option and then purchase a back month call option. AAPL's current spot price is $100. If the spot price of AAPL moves up by 2% in the month the options are in-

(Shutterstock) The Basics* (If you already understand the basics of options, skip to the next section, "Selling vs Buying" ) What are Call Options? A call option contract gives the owner the right, but not an obligation, to buy 100 shares of a stock at a fixed price, referred to as the "strike price", on or before the expiration date of the option. For example, let's say you bought a September call option with a $10 strike. If the stock price reaches $15 before the expiration date (September 17th, 3rd Friday),  then you would have profited $500 which is $100 for each $1 increase in the underlying stock.  A holder of a call option has several methods available to close the trade. If the option is in profit; they can sell the option at a profit or hold to expiry and exercise the call option and buy the 100 shares at the strike price.  If the option isn't profitable; they can sell the option for a loss before expiration or hold and let the option expire worthle