www.OptionMonster.com
It is always interesting to see a new website that sets out to be a
one-stop shop for market news and analysis. There are already more than
a few such websites on the Internet, many of which have been around for
several years. So one of the most obvious questions that comes to mind
when encountering what is effectively a startup in this business is, "What
have you got that the others don't?"
After all, headlines are headlines, most actives are most active, and
you would have to search far and wide for competing market summaries on
a given trading day that differed by more than a point or two of emphasis.
As I was discussing with a colleague recently, one of the ways these websites
distinguish themselves from each other is the path to being a paid customer.
Many ostensibly free financial information websites provide a certain amount
of free content but then begin to scale up, offering ever more "exclusive"
or "professional" or "premium" content for those willing to cough up a
few bucks. Like the free stuff? Try the newsletter. Like the newsletter?
Try a subscription to our fully automated trading service that does all
the work for you.
You might call it the "For a few dollars more" strategy.
MEET THE MONSTER
optionMonster has also embarked upon this well-worn path -- offering
a variety of free resources, a number of free tools by way of third parties,
and a set of more advanced items and services available by way of paid
subscription. The focus on the website is on tools for option traders,
as well as information about option trading such as put/call, volatility,
and open interest information, that stock and market index traders often
rely on as part of their overall market analysis. But optionMonster also
seeks to be more than just another option website.
By including basic market information that appeals to traders and investors
who trade options as well as those who do not, optionMonster increases
the likelihood that the website will be visited and bookmarked by a wider
audience of traders than might have been the case otherwise. Part of this
strategy involves borrowing tools and resources from a number of excellent
third-party providers such as Portfolio 123, iVolatility, and Schaeffer's
Investment Research (among many more) to supplement the analysis provided
by optionMonster's own team of writers and analysts.
OptionMonster is divided into eight departments, not including the site
map: News and Insights, Webcasts, Quotes and Charts, Markets, Tools &
Resources, Learning, Newsstand, and Premium Research. Each department has
smaller pages within it, so that the News & Insights department, for
example, includes Headlines, the Morning Briefing, Pre-market Commentary,
Bulletins, Options to Watch, Stocks to Watch, High Volatility, and Index
Options. The Webcasts department provides links to multimedia presentations
Afternoon Tea and Rocket Fuel as well as podcasts and multimedia from the
Chicago Board of Options Exchange (CBOE), CNBC, and Reuters. Quotes &
Charts includes links to option chains, depth/Level II tables, a detailed
quote page, price history, basic and advanced charts, as well as news.
The Markets department consists of a market summary, major movers, North
American and world stock indexes, links to more than 90 different exchanges
around the globe, an extensive currency quotes listing, and a cross-rates
table. Tools & Resources includes the Ticker Trigger, Portfolio Builder,
Strategy Scanner, Position Simulator, Option Tools and Institutional Research.
The Learning department includes links to other educational websites, the
optionMonster bookstore, online classes, a strategy screener, glossary,
and an option quiz called "Options IQ." The Newsstand department consists
of three sets of links to financial news resources, technology news resources
and global news resources.
There's also a Premium Research department that includes an explanation
of what kinds of research are available through the subscription service,
a subscription page where traders can subscribe to either OptionTrader
Pro, which provides twice-weekly market observations and investment ideas,
or InsideOptions, the "top-end" product, which provides multiple investment
ideas a day. Both services are available by email or at a special section
within the optionMonster website, and can be subscribed to on either a
monthly or annual basis.
I want to focus on the Tools & Resources department at optionMonster
because it offers variety of interesting features, many of which come from
third parties. For example, optionMonster's Ticker Trigger feature lets
traders enter in a given ticker symbol and then click on any number of
links to access company information, earnings information, analyst ratings,
shareholder and institutional ownership data, key financials, and technical
charting. These links are to well-known sources such as Yahoo! Finance,
Zacks, Cnn Money, Reuters, and the Sec. Divided into two sections, the
lowermost section provides similar information as it relates to the stock
market in general. Links to earnings highlights, surprises, and conference
calls (regardless of the ticker symbol that was entered in the window at
the top of the page) can be found here, as can stock sector maps, Ipo information,
and stock screeners.
Similarly, optionMonster provides under "Options Tools" a number of
links to resources such as Yahoo! Finance, iVolatility, OptionsXpress,
CommodityWorld.com, and more. These websites provide specific information
on volatility, open interest, greeks, price increases or decreases, put/call
data, margin calculators, and option strategies.
Similarly, optionMonster provides links to investment research from
investment banks, business schools, financial associations, and central
banks. The Other Tools subdepartment has links to information on other
financial instruments including exchange traded funds, futures, mutual
funds, and bonds.
Another third-party offering through optionMonster is the Portfolio
Builder, which comes courtesy of Portfolio 123.com. The Portfolio Builder
-- or, more specifically, the offer from Portfolio 123 -- lets traders get
access to two of Portfolio 123's statistical portfolio models: Garp (Growth
at a Reasonable Price) Top Rated and Value with Momentum. Sample portfolios
can range in size from $50,000 to $1 million.
Two other features at optionMonster come courtesy of 888optionsnet.com,
the Strategy Scanner and Position Simulator. The Strategy Scanner is essentially
a table that compares 18 different option strategies (long calls, short
ratio put spread, condors, and so on) with the optimal market conditions
for that particular strategy. The other feature is 888optionsnet.com's
Position Simulator, which lets option traders enter in the date, starting
stock price, interest rate and dividend information, expiration cycle and
starting volatility to start off with, and then enter in specific position
information (long or short, number of option contracts, call or put, expiration
month, strike price, and volatility). The Position Simulator will then
create a profit/loss graph, and compare starting values with test values,
profit/loss, and delta.
BE A MARKET MONSTER
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Or at least let them provide content
for your website. In many ways, optionmonster.com takes this approach in
order to have a significant amount of content for both option and nonoption
traders and investors. Although still in beta, optionMonster provides the
sort of market information that still brings traffic to many similar --
if not the most popular -- financial websites. That said, optionMonster
has a significant option component --some provided by optionMonster content
providers and some provided by third parties -- that will likely draw option
traders toward this site and away from others that appear to give short
shrift to traders in puts and calls. optionMonster should also be complimented
for its inclusion of multimedia in the form of podcasts and video briefings
such as Afternoon Tea and Rocket Fuel.
Former Chicago floor trader Jon "Dr. J" Najarian, whose list of credits
and accomplishments includes a stint as a linebacker for the Chicago Bears,
provides much of the written content at optionMonster, including the Afternoon
Tea and premarket commentary. In addition, the website boasts a stable
of writers who prepare and produce headline news stories, items for the
morning briefing, options and stocks to watch sections, high-volatility
alerts, and headline bulletins. Najarian's brother, Pete, is also one of
the minds behind optionMonster credited for a great deal of the analytic
work along with "Dr. J."
It could be argued that optionMonster has benefited from the financial
websites that have come (and gone) before it. What makes optionMonster
promising is its combination of free content equally worthwhile for stock
as well as option traders, with topical news and analysis that can be used
to help traders and investors select from among the best trading opportunities
and ideas. Add to this the tools accessible through optionMonster (third
party or now), and you've got the beginnings of a worthwhile destination
for investors, speculators, and traders -- particularly those interested
in derivatives, either as stock substitutes or stock hedges.
If one thing is lacking it might be a robust stock-screener, and a trader
can't help but fantasize about the possibility of a partnership between
optionMonster and any number of quality stock-screener websites on the
Internet. This is especially true given optionMonster's inclusion of content
from websites like iVolatility and Optionetics.
As it stands today, optionMonster is a strong initial effort (founded
only in 2006) that is only likely to improve as the website designers get
more and more feedback from option (and nonoption) traders who use and
-- eventually -- come to rely on the information and analysis optionMonster
provides.
--David Penn, Technical Writer
ýoptionMonster
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Originally published in the June 2007 issue of
Technical Analysis of STOCKS & COMMODITIES magazine. All rights reserved.
© Copyright 2007, Technical Analysis, Inc.
