To: Berney who wrote (37361 ) 2/9/1999 9:37:00 PM From: Haim R. Branisteanu Respond to of 94695
Tuesday February 9, 9:14 pm Eastern Timebiz.yahoo.com U.S. OPTIONS/Indicators suggest further stock drop CHICAGO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Options indicators on Tuesday suggested that the S&P 100 (^OEX - news),already down 4.6 percent so far this month, was poised for a further decline, traders said. They noted that demand for equity calls remained buoyant even as the market slid. ''Call buying has not subsided. People are used to buying the dips or buying the calls every time the market breaks,'' said Jerry Hegarty, chief analyst with Cape Market Research and editor of Hegarty's Options Navigator. ''The market is very vulnerable here. It could get very ugly,'' said Hegarty, adding that there was a good chance the OEX would see the 590.00 level on Wednesday. The OEX lost 15.18 points to close at 606.52, a three-week low. The Market Volatility Index (^VIX - news), which measures implied volatility of several strikes on OEX options, climbed 2.08 points to 32.51. Jerry Wang, market strategist with Schaeffer's Investment Research, noted that the VIX held chart support at 30.00, which suggested that there was still more downside potential for stock prices. He looked for support for the OEX at 600.00 but added, ''The next 10 days will probably be a lot more volatile than usual.'' Paul Foster, investment strategist and editor of 1010WallStreet.com, noted that implied volatility, a key factor in pricing options, spiked on most Nasdaq options. Nasdaq stocks were hit hard, led by declines in Internet issues. More Quotes and News: MKT VOLTLTY NDX (Chicago Board Options Exchange) (^VIX - news) S&P 100 INDEX (Standard & Poor's Corp) (^OEX - news) Related News Categories: US Market News