CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) at 21.68; 10-day moving average is 20.49.

SPDR Gold Trust (GLD) overall implied volatility at 24; 26-week average is 24.

NASDAQ 100 (QQQQ) overall implied volatility at 22; 26-week average is 26.

Semiconductor Holders Trust (SMH) overall volatility at 27; 26-week average is 30.

Continue reading Options Update: Volatility Levels as of Dec. 31, 2009

Options Update: Volatility Levels as of Dec. 31, 2009 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Jan 2010 07:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you are like just about every other stock investor out there, you are asking yourself the question, "Can the market keep going up, or am I going to have to suffer through another decline?"

Well, while there is no sure fire way to know exactly if and when the stock market is going to turn around, there are some tools available -- semi-cloudy crystal balls, if you will -- that can give you a heads up when a turnaround may be just around the corner.

Let me show you one of my favorites: the NYSE Bullish Percent Index.

Continue reading Forecasting the S&P 500; Dusting off the crystal ball

Forecasting the S&P 500; Dusting off the crystal ball originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) closed at $19.75. MSFT Window 7 is expected to be released in late 2009-early 2010. MSFT June option implied volatility is at 33, July is at 36; below its 26-week average of 45, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

UltraShort S&P500 ProShares (NYSE: SDS) is recently up 66 cents to $61.20 in pre-open trading. SDS seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice the inverse daily performance of the S&P 500. SDS option implied volatility of 60 is below its 26-week average of 74, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Options Update: Microsoft June volatility low at 33 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 26 May 2009 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Monday was a day of crosscurrents and even though late buying recovered some of the earlier losses, it was the first loss in five days -- leaving the bulls wondering if the buying had reached its apex.

The Dow dropped below 8,000 yesterday, but that might not be as significant as the overdone internal indicators on all of the major indices. These indicators tell us when markets are overbought or oversold based on historically relevant studies.

Continue reading Today's technical outlook: Market top could have bulls scrambling

Today's technical outlook: Market top could have bulls scrambling originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

UltraShort S&P 500 ProShares (NYSE: SDS) is recently trading down 84 cents to $88 in pre-open trading. SDS seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice the inverse daily performance of the S&P 500. SDS January option implied volatility of 94 is above its 26-week average of 68 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

UltraShort QQQ ProShares (NYSE: QID) is recently down 1.95 to $68.35 in pre-open trading. QID seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice the inverse daily performance of the NASDAQ Index-100 Index. QID January option implied volatility of 108 is above its 26-week average of 87 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

UltraShort Financials ProShares (NYSE: SKF) is recently is recently down $2.97 to $127.89 in pre-open trading. SKF is an exchange traded fund seeking daily investment results that correspond to twice (200%) the inverse (opposite) of the daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index. SKF January option implied volatility of 155 is above its 26-week average of 99 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Options Update: Volatility elevated for leveraged ETF Indexes originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 08:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

UltraShort S&P 500 (NYSE: SDS) is closed at $112.94 Wednesday. SDS seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice the inverse daily performance of the S&P 500. SDS December option implied volatility of 140 is above its 26-week average of 58 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

UltraShort QQQ ProShares (NYSE: QID) closed at $89.25 Wednesday. QID seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice the inverse daily performance of the NASDAQ Index-100 Index. QID December option implied volatility of 139 is above its 26-week average of 75 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

UltraShort Financials ProShares (NYSE: SKF) is recently is recently up $1.67 to $224.50. SKF is an exchange traded fund seeking daily investment results that correspond to twice (200%) the inverse (opposite) of the daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index. SKF December option implied volatility of 185 is above its 26-week average of 95 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Options Update: UltraShort ETF's volatility elevated; SDS, QID, SKF originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

UltraShort S&P500 ProShares (NYSE: SDS) is recently trading at $65.10 in pre-open trading, below its close of $72.50. SDS seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice the inverse daily performance of the S&P 500. SDS October option implied volatility of 66 is above its 26-week average of 46 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

UltraShort FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Proshares (NYSE: FXP) is recently trading at $88.52 in pre-open trading, below its close of $108.55. FXP October option implied volatility of 133 is above its 26-week average of 79 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

UltraShort Financials ProShares (NYSE: SKF) is recently trading at $87.96 in pre-open trading, below its close of $115.44. SKF is an exchange-traded fund seeking daily investment results that correspond to twice (200%) the inverse (opposite) of the daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index. SKF October option implied volatility of 161 is above its 26-week average of 75 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Option Update: UltraShort funds volatility elevated originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

UltraShort S&P500 ProShares (AMEX: SDS) seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice the inverse daily performance of the S&P 500. SDS July option implied volatility of 42 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

UltraShort QQQ ProShares (AMEX: QID) seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice the inverse daily performance of the NASDAQ Index-100 Index. QID July option implied volatility of 51 is near its 26-week average of 51 according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Option Update: UltraShort S&P500 ProShares and UltraShort QQQ ProShares volatility flat originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.