Our Chief Equity Strategist and Economist, John Blank, wrote recently that the bulk of what happened to large cap U.S. stock indices over the last month was a stock options volatility spike, and a subsequent rapid VIX reduction.

He’s here now to elaborate.

1. Was this due to the uncertain landscape and how has this volatility whipsaw resolved itself?

2. What does this mean for stock market volatility going forward?

3. How long might it take for the market to gain a solid footing?

4. How do you view investor’s risk appetite currently, especially in light of the U.S. and China Trade picture?

5. Tech stocks still appear to be strong. What have we learned from Q1 mega-cap tech reports?

6. For the last 10 years four mega-cap tech stocks drove the U.S. large cap indexes. But overall, what’s the bull/bear story regarding these tech stocks?

7. Do you think there’s another Big Tech rally around the corner after the group’s strong Q1 earnings results?

8. Looking ahead, are the tech mega-caps a buy?

9. As for the Q1 earnings season in general, going into it investors had been hoping strong earnings could revive enthusiasm for stocks on the heels of the worst quarterly performance for the S&P 500 since 2022. Given recent volatility, do you think that’s happened?

10. A large cap Dutch grocery chain, a Canadian insurance group, and a Spanish Tech Services firm are on your stock radar. They include Ahold (ADRNY Quick QuoteADRNY - Free Report) , Fairfax Financial (FRFHF Quick QuoteFRFHF - Free Report) and Amadeus IT Group (AMADY Quick QuoteAMADY - Free Report) .

Our Chief Equity Strategist and Economist, John Blank, on stocks. With John, I’m Terry Ruffolo.