Stock and option traders have had a roller-coaster month of September. Volatility in the market and sector movements have made quite a number of stocks very much in the options trading ambit. Here let us look at the two most important indices and mention some of the stocks people have been discussing most recently.

Tech Titans Leading the Charge

It should not come as a shock that giants in the industry, such as Apple and Microsoft, have been leading the pack. Given that new products are being launched and quarterly earnings are being released, the trade in the market with such stocks have gotten a bit busier. I happen to recall a conversation with a friend with whom recollected is the same kind of operation whereby he was holding out Apple calls only; he was quite confident of making a lot of money as there was an important event – new iPhone announcement. Warning ahead: they did make the money.

Healthcare Stocks in the Spotlight

Healthcare has also been a hotbed of activity. Companies like Pfizer and Moderna have seen increased options trading, especially with ongoing developments in vaccines and treatments. A colleague of mine, who’s a bit of a biotech enthusiast, was thrilled to see his Pfizer puts gain value as the stock dipped on some mixed trial results.

Financials Making a Comeback

Financial stocks have been interesting to watch. Banks like JP Morgan Chase and Goldman Sachs have experienced high options volume, driven by interest rate changes and economic data releases. I had a hunch about JP Morgan and bought some calls just before their earnings report. It was a nail-biter, but the stock jumped, and those calls were golden!

Energy Sector Heating Up

The energy sector has been buzzing too. Due to the volatility of the oil market, trading options on companies shares such as Exxon and Chevron has also doubled up. I have a buddy who plays the oil market which by the way also happens to be his occupation. He capitalized too heavily on call options that he purchased Chevron after the surprise jump in oil prices.

One of the biggest names in the financial world is Berkshire Hathaway. They own huge well established companies such as American Express, Apple, Burlington Northern Santa Fe and GEICO. They also share in several other well-know companies such as the Coca-cola company, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Berkshire Hathaway was started in the 1830s as a textile manufacturing company. This mill grew into one of the most successful of all time. It wasn’t until the 1950’s that the Hathaway Manufacturing company merged with Hathaway to become Berkshire Hathaway.

Warren Buffett

In our modern world, the company is a multi-million dollar asset under the control and leadership of Warren Buffett, who is the chairman and chief executive of the company which focuses on long term investment strategies and diversifying business interests. Today, Berkshire Hathaway is one of the top players in the financial world and active partner in main international deals and agreements. According to the Forbes Global 2000 list, Berkshire Hathaway is the third largest company in the world. Their class A shares are currently selling for over $300,000.00 and are worth every penny. The number of big name companies that are connected with Berkshire Hathaway’s stock is the reason they are priced so highly. These businesses are tops in the world and will not look to disappear any time soon. Apple is one of the companies and they have such a firm grasp of the technology sector that they won’t be leaving the business world for quite sometime. The same can be said for the number of insurance companies who are doing better than ever with the rise of the pharmaceuticals industry worldwide.

Berkshire History of Cash Reserves

What really makes the Berkshire Hathaway stock worth so much is Warren Buffett. He took the old textile company and made it into one the most stable and investable business ever. He mandates the firm keep a minimum of $20 billion dollars easily at hand, though lately that number has been more than $100 billion. That makes this company a highly investable asset. This is a company that is actively investing in strong stable companies and has no debt to speak of in regards to them. To be bought by Berkshire Hathaway means that, that company is also a strong stable entity. Companies all over the world want to be acquired by Berkshire Hathaway because it will mean their business will grow beyond their wildest dreams and become one of the more sought after companies in the world.

What are the top five Stocks that all investors should own in 2017? If you ask an investor this question, they will likely tell you to choose Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks. The Dow Jones is made up of 30 of the largest companies in America.

These companies have a solid history of strong performances and they tend to pay excellent dividends. This is why anybody should add it to their retirement portfolio.

If you cannot invest in the 30 components of the Dow, there are different ways to approach the situation. You can lean towards a tech, healthcare or financial based portfolio because the companies on the Dow Jones Industrial Average operate in those sectors. ETFs have also become a popular way to invest in the sectors for the Dow.

The service segment of the Apple corporation could be a great stock to keep an eye on in the future. Some experts are saying that this part of the company is now worth over $240 billion. This is drawing many investors to buy it.

Apple Services is now the second largest segment of the company. The biggest is their consumer products division. The services segment has some promising other factors that make it attractive, though.

One promising feature of the services segment is that the number of iOS users is constantly increasing. As there are more users, they are going to need more services. This will increase even more as Apple develops and implements more hardware on the consumer level. There will a lot of service expansions in the future as the amount of different hardware is increased at the consumer level.

CEO Tim Cook is comfortable with the numbers for Apple Watch

Apple is well-known not to reveal their sales figures for each product. This has left market experts wondering if the Apple Watch is a hit or a miss. The IDC has reported that they are under what the company expected. Apple's CEO, Tim Cook says that they are "just fine".

The market for wearable technology is small. There are only 4 companies. The most popular competitor is FitBit. While we don't know the sales numbers, we do know that Apple has shipped over 70% fewer units in the last year.

Apple's annual September IPhone event will begin a bit earlier than usual this year. This gives them a chance to book IPhone 7 sales before the fiscal year ends. Apple (AAPL) does not expect to have a strong fourth quarter, so this affair may help them prepare for the regression.

According to analyst reports, the IPhone is still tremendously desired among smartphone users. Due to the demand, there may be IPhone estimate hikes that surpass the current estimates put forth by experts. Not only will this benefit Apple, it will also create a good situation for major chip manufacturers such as Cirrus Logic, NXP, and Broadcom.

Many invitations went out for this highly-anticipated event on Monday. The affair will begin on Wednesday September 7 at 1pm in San Francisco. Apple will introduce three new products on this day -- a 4.7-inch IPhone 7, a 5.5-inch iPhone 7-plus, and a new compatible Apple Watch model.

Exxon Mobile Corp was the largest dividend payer in the S&P 500, paying out over $11.5 billion per year to stock holders. But with Apple increasing their dividend by 10% with their most recent earnings report, they will now be paying out over $12 billion yearly in dividends. This dividend raise was in addition to the companies large stock buyback program which is investing $140 billion in Apple stock.

The company has become a cash cow with the popularity of its phone and tablet products. Even with the large stock buyback and the huge dividend payouts, the company still has plenty of cash on hand to invest in research and development of new products.

iPhone 6 will drive Apple Christmas sales to a healthy gain. KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that he predicts 71.5 million iPhone 6 sales in the fourth quarter of 2014. That is a large percentage gain (40%) over the same quarter last year and almost a doubling (82%) of the sales in the previous quarter.

Icahn Lab Conference Room (Photo credit: Joe Shlabotnik)

Carl Icahn Invests in Apple Inc.

It wasn’t too long ago that the drop in Apple stock seemed like it would not stop as the price dropped all the way down to $400 a share after the death of legendary CEO Steve Jobs. Now the stock has turned the corner and is on the way back up, but to $700 is a level that not many are predicting. Carl Icahn does feel good about $600 a share and invested 1.5 billion in the stock recently. Icahn feels that the stock is easily worth $625 even without any growth in earnings. In addition to investing in the stock he has spoken with the current CEO, Tim Cook, trying to get the company to purchase more of their shares back from the public.