John Ondercin

John Ondercin is a seasoned options trading educator and author celebrated for his clear, jargon-free writing that makes complex financial concepts accessible to beginners and aspiring traders alike. He excels at providing practical, step-by-step guidance on options basics, trade examples, value calculations, and advanced strategies like the impact of time, probability, and the Greeks.

Palo Alto Networks Slumps 7% as Q3 Profit Guidance Falls Short

Palo Alto Networks Slumps 7% as Q3 Profit Guidance Falls Short

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (PANW) plunged 7.83% to $150.69 in overnight trading as of 12:10 AM EST, after closing the regular session at $163.50, down 2.07% (-$3.45), as investors reacted to weaker-than-expected profit guidance. The third-quarter profit guidance fell short of Wall Street expectations, overshadowing solid revenue growth and a raised full-year outlook. The decline … Read more

Abu Dhabi Funds Hit $1B in BlackRock Bitcoin ETF by End of 2025

Abu Dhabi Funds Hit $1B in BlackRock Bitcoin ETF by End of 2025

Abu Dhabi sovereign funds, including Mubadala Investment Company and Al Warda Investments, collectively held over $1 billion in BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) by the end of 2025, according to reports from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Q4 2025 13F filings. Based on the values from the time of the report, Mubadala owned … Read more

Oracle Stock Jumps on $50B Cloud Expansion Plan

Oracle Stock Jumps on $50B Cloud Expansion Plan

Oracle Corporation’s stock ORCL rose 2.34% to close at $160.14 on Friday, February 13, 2026. This was driven by investors emphasizing its ambitious $50 billion cloud expansion plan. Goldman Sachs will lead the bond offering, while Citigroup will manage the equity and convertible preferred offerings. The move comes amid a holiday-shortened trading week with U.S. … Read more

Stock Market Today: Dow Futures Fall, Nasdaq Contracts Slides 

Stock Market Today: Dow Futures Fall, Nasdaq Contracts Slides

U.S. equity futures moved lower today, as traders navigated the Presidents’ Day return amid thin liquidity and renewed volatility in technology shares. Mini Dow Jones Industrial Average March 2026 futures (YM=F) were trading at 49,516.00, down 53.00 points, or 0.11%, as of 4:12:05 AM EST, at press time. The cautious tone follows Monday’s market closure, … Read more

Oracle Shares Surge 12% While Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia Slip

Oracle Shares Surge 12% While Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Nvidia Slip

Shares of Oracle (ORCL) surged 12% for the week, defying broader sector weakness that dragged down several mega-cap peers. Meanwhile, stalwarts like Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), and Amazon (AMZN) tumbled amid growing investor anxiety over margins and artificial intelligence spending, underscoring a notable divergence in how Wall Street is pricing the next phase of the … Read more

Palantir (PLTR) Bucks SaaS Downturn & Analysts Turn Bullish

Palantir (PLTR) Bucks SaaS Downturn & Analysts Turn Bullish

In a dramatic turn of events, Palantir Technologies (PLTR) has emerged as the surprise victor of the early 2026 software shakeout. Investment firms, including Freedom Capital Markets, Wedbush, and Citi, have aggressively raised their PLTR ratings from “Sell” to “Buy” recently. The catalyst is the growing consensus that the rise of autonomous AI agents is … Read more

Asian Markets Rise Ahead of Lunar New Year as Gold Prices Slip

Asian Markets Rise Ahead of Lunar New Year as Gold Prices Slip

Asian shares traded higher, and gold prices declined on Monday, February 16, 2026, ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 edged 0.1% higher to 56,996.21, after the government reported that Japan’s economy grew more slowly than economists had expected in the latest October-December quarter, at an annualized 0.2%. Thus, increasing expectations that … Read more