Bernie Schaeffer's Market Commentaries

10 Reasons You Should be Trading Options in Today's Market

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:45:00 GMT

The stock market gets no respect these days.On July 27, an article entitled "Ten Stock Market Myths That Just Won't Die" was featured in The Wall Street Journal...(Read More)

August Option Advisor: VIX at Critical Juncture

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:20:00 GMT

The following is a reprint of the market commentary from the August edition of the Option Advisor, published on July 22...(Read More)

Bernie in Barron's: How to Profit in Volatile Times

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:23:00 GMT

Bernie Schaeffer's guest column in Barron's this week is headlined "How to Profit in Volatile Times," a topic that should certainly be of interest to anyone following the market in 2010...(Read More)

June Option Advisor: A Look at the Technicals

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 15:30:00 GMT

The following is a reprint of the market commentary from the June edition of the Option Advisor, published on May 27...(Read More)

What You Can Learn From The Las Vegas Money Show

Tue, 25 May 2010 13:45:00 GMT

It's always nice to visit with the many friends of Schaeffer's Investment Research at the annual Las Vegas Money Show...(Read More)

May Option Advisor: Defining 'Cheap'

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 12:14:00 GMT

The following is a reprint of the market commentary from the May edition of the Option Advisor, published on April 22...(Read More)

April Option Advisor: The Story Behind the Falling VIX

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 12:09:00 GMT

The following is a reprint of the market commentary from the April edition of the Option Advisor, published on March 25...(Read More)

Schaeffer on Charts: The SPX Clears Its 160-Month Moving Average

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 17:00:00 GMT

In the March 17 edition of Schaeffer on Charts, I focused on what I saw as a critical market level that was immediately at hand - the 160-month moving average of the S&P 500 Index (SPX)...(Read More)

Schaeffer on Charts: Taking the Long View

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:00:00 GMT

I know I advocated "keeping it simple" in my most recent Option Advisor? commentary by focusing on the highly popular 200-day moving average as an indicator of the market's health...(Read More)

March Option Advisor: Bargains Available

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:07:00 GMT

The following is a reprint of the market commentary from the March edition of the Option Advisor, published on Feb...(Read More)

Schaeffer on Stocks: A Strangle on Priceline.com (PCLN)?

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:30:00 GMT

Priceline.com Inc. (PCLN) is a poster child for the schizophrenic nature of this market...(Read More)

Schaeffer on Stocks: The 'Most Hated Sector'

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:50:00 GMT

My colleague, Ryan Detrick, emailed me a MarketWatch story from Feb. 17 entitled "The worst is yet to come - what to expect from the commercial real estate crisis." Ryan's choice comment was, "Nothing new...(Read More)

Schaeffer on Stocks: Should You Buy the Baidu Inc. Breakout?

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:12:00 GMT

According to Bespoke Investment Group, Baidu Inc.'s (BIDU) fourth-quarter earnings report after the close on Tuesday beat earnings forecasts by 12 cents per share (%241.80 vs...(Read More)

February Option Advisor: Beware Consensus Thinking

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 14:00:00 GMT

The accompanying chart tracks the performance of crude oil futures from the early 1990s to their climactic peak in mid-2008...(Read More)

Schaeffer's Media Outtake: The Next Technical Landmark

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:45:00 GMT

"Chartists point out that when the S&P passed 1,120 it had recovered exactly half the ground it lost from its October 2007 peak to its March 2009 trough...(Read More)

Schaeffer on Charts: An Expensive VIX

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:00:00 GMT

Even as the S&P 500 Index's 30-minute intraday volatility has been lurching below Thanksgiving week, pre-Dubai levels in the mind-numbing 5% zone (Chart 1), the CBOE Market Volatility Index (VIX) has been gaining ground this week after tagging 52-week lows the week before (Chart 2)...(Read More)

January Option Advisor Commentary

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 19:20:00 GMT

The following is a reprint of the market commentary from the January 2010 edition of the Option Advisor, published on Dec...(Read More)

Schaeffer on Charts: Is the VIX 'Too Low' South of 20?

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:27:00 GMT

The CBOE Market Volatility Index (VIX) has tagged several new 52-week lows in today's trading, and -- perhaps even more significantly -- the index has slipped below the key 20 level for the first time since August 2008.Of course, there are those whose knee-jerk response will be that the VIX is now "too low" (see my recent effort at debunking this argument), and therefore the market is now particularly vulnerable to a pullback...(Read More)

Schaeffer's Media Outtake: More From the Doom-and-Gloom Lobby

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:45:00 GMT

"The benchmark index for U.S. stock options may almost double in 2010 on investors' concern that the Standard & Poor's 500 Index's rally outpaced prospects for economic and earnings growth, according to David Rosenberg ... 'We'll be in a year of heightened volatility,' Rosenberg, chief economist at Gluskin Sheff & Associates Inc...(Read More)

December Option Advisor Commentary

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:55:00 GMT

The following is a reprint of the market commentary from the December edition of the Option Advisor, published on Nov...(Read More)

Schaeffer's Media Outtake: The Gloom-and-Doom Lobby

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:15:00 GMT

"The worldwide decline in equities spurred by Dubai's efforts to reschedule its debt is a sign that government spending alone won't be enough to protect financial markets, according to Arnab Das of Roubini Global Economics...(Read More)

Schaeffer's Media Outtake: Thoughts on Hedging, Volatility

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:15:00 GMT

"Standard & Poor's, the world's leading index provider, announced today the launch of the S&P 500 Dynamic VEQTOR Index which dynamically allocates between equity, volatility and cash to provide broad equity market exposure with an implied volatility hedge...(Read More)

Schaeffer's Media Outtake: Watching the Big Money Play Defense

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:00:00 GMT

"As many investors sit on big stock profits, they are focusing on safeguarding their own money...(Read More)

November Option Advisor Commentary

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:30:00 GMT

The following is a reprint of the market commentary from the November edition of the Option Advisor, published on Oct...(Read More)

Schaeffer on Charts: Some Thoughts on the Pullback

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:41:00 GMT

As I write this, the 50-day moving average of the S&P 500 Index (SPX) (currently at 1,050 - see blue line on accompanying chart) has been taken out, perhaps the first significant technical casualty of the pullback from the Oct...(Read More)