Heavy Put Options Volume Suggests Markets Headed Lower, According to OTA Trade
http://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/09/22/2097532/0/en/UPDATE-Heavy-Put-Options-Volume-Suggests-Markets-Headed-Lower-According-to-iVest.html
EMERYVILLE, Calif., Sept. 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OTA Trade, an innovator in trading platforms for educators and retail investors, today released new data that indicate increased investor concern about the markets in the coming months. Data from OTA Trade show volume in the forward contracts for NASDAQ-100ETF (QQQ) has been weighted heavily to puts — nearly two-thirds — suggesting investor expectation of a market downturn.
OTA Trade uses proprietary tools to analyze options volume data for contracts expiring before and after each “triple-witching” expiration, which happens four times a year on the third Friday of March, June, September, and December. By filtering out the data from the various market exchanges for the contracts that are expiring, OTA Trade has visibility into where the money is “rolling” for the weeks and months ahead. When indices are near their highs, like now, increased put activity indicates that stocks may be overvalued, and investors are expecting a drop, explained Rance Masheck, CEO of OTA Trade.
“People buy puts for two reasons: Protection from downside or a belief that the market will head lower,” he said “When the market is at lows, they buy them out of a sense of concern that worse things might still come. When the market is closer to highs, they buy them because they think the market is going to head down.”
By comparison, March’s triple-expiration saw put volume in QQQ contracts with expirations after March 20 nearly three times higher than calls. But with the market already down significantly at that point, this extra put volume created a floor and precipitated the market rebound, according to Masheck.
“When this happens after a significant drop in the market, it can often create a bottom because so many investors have essentially purchased insurance to protect themselves from further losses,” he said.
June’s triple-witching day, meanwhile, featured a balanced split between puts and calls, OTA Trade data show, and the markets did not shift direction.
“Triple-expiration weekend is often an important turning point in the markets as so many options and futures contracts expire and the money has to come out of those contracts and move to later expirations,” Masheck explained. “How that money shifts is often very telling about what will happen next, and we filter data in a way that it can be more useful to traders.
“If June was a show of mild confidence, today’s data says that confidence has eroded," Masheck said.
About OTA Trade
OTA Trade has reimagined what trading platforms should look and act like, with DIY investors in mind. Purpose-built by leading educators, for educators, and to empower self-directed traders, OTA Trade provides tools that act as an invisible mentor for continuous improvement. OTA Trade offers brokerages, trading educators, and independent investors the only stock and options trading platforms that package powerful data and insights into portable technology, with easy-to-use tools and visuals for optimal success. For more information about the company’s white-labeled and retail trading offerings, visit www.ivestplus.com.
CONTACT:
Mike Wall
Tier One Partners
781-568-9124
mwall@tieronepr.com
Traders Downshift on TSLA Heading Into Stock Split, According to New Data from OTA Trade
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/08/31/2086095/0/en/Traders-Downshift-on-TSLA-Heading-Into-Stock-Split-According-to-New-Data-from-iVest.html
EMERYVILLE, Calif., Aug. 31, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OTA Trade, a leading innovator in trading platforms for educators and retail investors, today released new data that indicate investor sentiment on Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has shifted ahead of the automotive company’s stock split.
OTA Trade examined TSLA options trading behavior across thousands of traders since the start of the third quarter. The results show a clear shift in options strategies by traders between July 1 and the period after the stock split was announced.
“Our data show that while investors were heavily bullish on TSLA all quarter, as the stock jumped several hundred points leading up to the ex-dividend date, we started to see a change,” said Rance Masheck, CEO of OTA Trade. “A significant percentage of traders either shifted to looking to make money on the downside of the stock moving forward or continued to place bullish bets but using more complicated strategies that limit downside even more than just buying your typical calls and puts.”
- From July 1 through Aug. 10, 79.2% of options trades in TSLA were bullish and 20.8% were bearish. However, when comparing a basic call purchase versus a basic put purchase, which are the simplest and most common strategies for making money if the stock goes up or down, respectively, 72.1% of the trades were calls leading up to Aug. 10.
- In the period from Aug. 11 to 21, as the stock jumped up ahead of the ex-dividend date, the ratio plummeted to only 59.8% calls. This is a significant shift in trader mentality about the future of the stock following the split.
- More complex, multi-leg options strategies, which offer some protection on the downside, tended to remain bullish, slipping only to 74.1% after Aug. 21 from 79.2% prior.
OTA Trade gathers trading data via its unique and extensive Trade Journal, which helps traders improve their results by automatically tagging trades by type and then enabling them to add their own custom tags where needed. By pulling the metadata of thousands of users across all brands of the platform, OTA Trade can gather detailed insights into what traders are doing as a whole. The data can be tabulated based on date range, symbol, options strategies, and more.
About OTA Trade
OTA Trade has reimagined what trading platforms should look and act like, with DIY investors in mind. Purpose-built by leading educators, for educators, and to empower self-directed traders, OTA Trade provides tools that act as an invisible mentor for continuous improvement. OTA Trade offers brokerages, trading educators, and independent investors the only stock and options trading platforms that package powerful data and insights into portable technology, with easy-to-use tools and visuals for optimal success. For more information about the company’s white-labeled and retail trading offerings, visit www.ivestplus.com.
CONTACT:
Mike Wall
Tier One Partners
781-568-9124
mwall@tieronepr.com
OTA Trade Launches OTA Trade with Powerful Features from Benzinga to Empower DIY Traders
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/06/15/2048125/0/en/iVest-Launches-Market-Gear-with-Powerful-Features-from-Benzinga-to-Empower-DIY-Traders.html
EMERYVILLE, Calif., June 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- OTA Trade, an innovator in trading platforms for educators and retail investors, announced today the launch of OTA Trade, the only stock and options trading platform for independent investors that packages powerful data and insights into easy-to-use tools and visuals for continuous improvement and optimal success. In addition, the company announced it has become the exclusive provider of Benzinga’s "on-the-go" versions of Real-Time News and Live Squawk across all of its platforms.
Kicking off the new partnership, OTA Trade and Benzinga will be hosting a live webinar on Tuesday, June 16, providing expert advice on the fundamentals of options trading and key strategies that can be applied using new technology featured in OTA Trade. Signup for the event here.
OTA Trade is being introduced at a time when record numbers of self-directed traders are flocking to the market. Amid unprecedented levels of market volatility, many investors are seeking ways to secure their financial futures in the “new normal.” The new DIY trading platform was designed by leading educators with these investors in mind, offering a reimagined trading experience that uniquely combines portable technology, powerful insights, and highly-visual tools for continuous trading improvement.
“For years, self-directed traders have been forced to choose between two unacceptable options. Either sacrifice key insights and information for a platform that offers ease-of-use, or choose a data-rich and cumbersome platform that is better suited for only the most seasoned professionals,” said Rance Mashek, President and Founder of OTA Trade. “OTA Trade fills that gap in the DIY trading landscape and empowers traders to finally take true control over their investments. We have seen it work for years for educators who use our trading platform technology, and now we are excited to see it work for individuals who want to take their investing to the next level.”
OTA Trade Lets Investors take Benzinga’s Live Squawk On the Go
OTA Trade is now available to subscribers as the first provider of Benzinga’s “on-the-go” Real-Time News and Live Squawk tools. The features provide access to key news and analysis created and curated by the financial news site’s renowned roster of journalists and breaking news team.
“Few financial news sites are better than Benzinga at knowing how to sort through the noise, and hone in on the news that’s moving a particular stock, at the exact moment it matters,” said Chris Mercer, COO of OTA Trade. “We’re pleased to offer our subscribers one more dynamic tool they can use to quickly and efficiently analyze the market, and maximize their performance.”
“We’ve long been impressed by iVest’s platforms which deliver a leading user experience without sacrificing the data required to make sound investment decisions,” said Benzinga’s Luke Jacobi. “We’re proud to be a part of the OTA Trade experience by bringing world class market news into what is already a great experience.”
Benzinga’s “on the go” features fit seamlessly into OTA Trade’s existing lineup of powerful, easy-to-use tools, which are built specifically to empower self-directed traders. The platform is designed to enable DIY traders to invest like a professional, without the heavy lift of learning to use an overly complex platform.
Quicker Insights through Visualization
OTA Trade offers ultra-visual and customizable charting, research, and tools exclusive to the platform that empower investors to trade with confidence while using a broker of their choice. The platform’s trade journal uses algorithms and AI to offer unprecedented learning through curated analysis of an investor’s most successful strategies, improving ongoing performance. Trades can be made on OTA Trade across a variety of devices and platforms, with each providing a seamless and unified experience.
OTA Trade’s feature-rich platform is available at three subscription levels to suit the varying needs of today’s DIY investor:
- Essential Kit - $45/mo or $38/mo if billed annually
- Signature Kit - $75/mo or $65/mo if billed annually
- Master Kit - $145/mo or $125/mo if billed annually
About OTA Trade
OTA Trade has reimagined what trading platforms should look and act like with DIY investors in mind. Purpose-built by leading educators, for educators, and to empower self-directed traders, OTA Trade provides tools that act as an invisible mentor for continuous improvement. OTA Trade offers brokerages, trading educators, and independent investors the only stock and options trading platforms that package powerful data and insights, into portable technology, with easy-to-use tools and visuals for optimal success. For more information about the company’s white-labeled and retail trading offerings, visit www.ivestplus.com.
CONTACT:
Mike Wall
Tier One Partners
781-568-9124
mwall@tieronepr.com