Yesterday was an up day for the Dow, after having suffered a big loss on Tuesday. It was a nice rebound although it will take a couple of days like that to make up for Tuesday's losses. The losses and gains do not matter as much to us as binary option traders, but what is important is the factors that lead to such changes. Well today we have some fairly solid indicators to be ready for. There will be a report from the Labor Department on first time claims for jobless benefits. Most are expecting a slight rise, so be prepared for anything unexpected! In addition to that, there will likely be a huge focus back on Greece. Part of the deal to get itself out of trouble is a large debt swap. This is due to take place by today. There were doubts about it getting done in the past few days, but now it is expected to happen. This news already has futures up, so I would expect the same if it does indeed happen. Good opportunities today, so go make some money!

Well yesterday brought a harsh reality check to investors as the Dow dropped over 200 points in the worst day of the year so far. It was not totally unexpected, but I do not think anyone was predicting this magnitude of losses. It has been a while since we have see the wild swings that were commonplace as the markets lost much of their value in previous years. Of course, if you invest with binary options, these types of swings provide a lot of opportunity. So it is important to try to figure out what is causing all of this selling to occur. It is likely a combination of things. One thing, that I have mentioned numerous times in recent weeks, is the growing price of gasoline. There is some tension between Iran and the U.S. that is helping crude oil skyrocket. Along with this, we had the somewhat unexpected news from China as they cut their growth forecast. Now, believe it or not, there are some fairly serious worries about Greece again. There are doubts that the bond swap will be able to match the amount the country owes. All in all it was somewhat of a perfect storm. Now, having said that, futures are up this morning, so it is very difficult to say what we have in store for today.

Today I just would like to talk about binary options trading in general. This is for those of you considering starting on this path of investing. It is not easy, and there is great risk. These are the things you must know before you begin, but that should not necessarily mean you should stay away, what it means is that caution should be taken, and only well thought out investments should be made. There is no reason to let chance be the deciding factor in your success with digital options. You absolutely have the ability to find information that can lead to a much higher percentage of winning investments. It requires work, and a learning curve, but it can certainly be worth it!

As it turns out there is some news out of China that appears to be overtaking the markets this morning. Predictions for China's growth have been changed to be less optimistic than it had been. This has caused concern among investors all over the world. For those of us investing with binary options, it could be considered a golden opportunity. Whenever we get such a strong indicator it is a good thing. Of course in traditional investing this is not the case as a downswing is never a good thing.

Hopefully everyone had a successful week last week. In the coming week, it will be important to keep an eye on some of the U.S. Jobs data that will be coming along. With the Greek debt situation somewhat quiet for now, it is stuff like these jobs reports that is going to play a larger role in driving the markets. Binary options are great for these types of quick indicators. Along with jobs, it will also be interesting to see when these gas prices start to take a toll on the markets as well. It almost seems as though people are turning a blind eye to the ever increasing prices, but I think at some point it will set in that people are going to be paying much more at the pump. Will it be at $4 per gallon? $4.50? $5? I suppose we will find out if things continue the way they are headed right now.

The Dow closed up again yesterday, and it was based on some still good news on the U.S. economy. What also happened was the price of crude oil shot up. This is scary business for a shaky economy as some are predicting $5 per gallon gas already and a quickly rising price of crude oil is only going to help that become reality. So for binary options traders, it might be time to start taking the price of crude into consideration when placing investments. If it goes up, I would expect it to really start to have more of an effect on the other markets.

The time above 13000 was short lived as the Dow lost some ground yesterday to close at 12,952. This could partially be blamed on the Chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve stating that no more stimulus was needed, or planned. I expect we might see the Dow back up over 13000 again soon. As stated in the title, binary option traders should be aware that stock futures are up this morning. There will be some economic data being reported today by some agencies in the U.S. government. One will be jobless claims. That is something that many will be expecting to be down, so anything other than a marginal change for the better will likely cause a stir in the markets.

Well it finally happened yesterday. The Dow closed above 13000 for the first time in almost 4 years. It seems like a huge milestone, and it is, but it was not a huge day for the Dow in general. As I have talked about with binary options investors all along, the markets have been on a fairly steady rise for  a few months now. The fact that it is not so volatile is a good sign for the economy. The only real problem I see right now is the growing price of crude oil, and the resulting high gasoline prices at the pump. It has not had much of an effect yet, but as prices inch closer to the dreaded $4 mark (already there in some places) it will certainly have an affect on the overall economy. It has been proven now more than once that when gas prices get this high people drive less. That means fewer trips to the store, and fewer nights out at restaurants. It can really drag things down in a hurry, and $4 seems to be that tipping point for a lot of people. We will see if gas gets that high, and if it does, how the population reacts.

Yesterday was interesting for the markets. The Dow was down for the day, but only very slightly. Other indices, such as the Nasdaq, and the S&P 500 were up, but only slightly. There was some good economic news regarding pending home sales, but the cost of crude oil is now becoming a major concern for investors, so gains are held in check. For binary options traders it is becoming more difficult to predict anything, and it might serve some of us well to begin looking at individual stocks.

As we all have witnessed this year, so far the stock markets have been on a fairly steady rise. Now just below the 13000 mark, the DOW is at its highest point in years. The question for investors, even binary options traders, is will it continue? That is obviously not easy to predict, but there are a few things that make me believe it might not. The main thing at this point is the cost of gasoline. The average price for a gallon of gas has gotten very high. It is on the verge of entering record territory if it doesn't stop getting more expensive soon. This can have a very detrimental effect on an economy that is still recovering and showing promising signs. For today there are a few minor reports to watch out for, but overall a rather quiet day.