Although much has been written about the CDS market there are some very simple ways investors can use price information from that market, but it's important to note that CDS levels and equity prices move in opposite directions (what's known as ceteris paribus)…

Just as options are derivatives of their underlying stocks, credit-default swaps also fall under the "derivatives" umbrella. Just like you can use put options to "insure" your portfolio, investors use the CDS market to spend a small amount of money for the possibility of making a large amount of cash if a company performed poorly.

Options have been, and should soon be again, excellent predictors of intermediate-term trends. On a stock-by-stock level, they track many of the most sophisticated, leveraged market participants. On a broader market level, they capture current market sentiment in real-time. With the intermediate market trend identified, we take the extra step of finding the most lucrative, low-risk option plays available…

You've probably been advised to "buy low and sell high" so many times that your eyes automatically roll when you hear the phrase. Let's face it, who doesn't want to buy stocks or options "on the cheap" and close the positions for double or triple their original value? But what a lot of folks outside the options world don't realize are the, well, "options" behind "selling high." And there, friends, is where you have a unique advantage over thousands, if not millions, of investors who are neither talking the talk, nor walking the walk…