Market Chameleon, founded in 2007 by William McBride, is a premier options research platform based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With over a decade of experience in financial markets, it has earned a reputation as a reliable resource for uncovering valuable insights in U.S. stock and options trading.
Despite being a browser-based service with occasional clunky navigation due to frequent page reloads, Market Chameleon consistently delivers a steady stream of fresh, high-quality data. Its website and marketing may not be the flashiest, but the platform is renowned for generating top-notch options strategies, especially useful during earnings seasons.
Specializing in options research, Market Chameleon provides essential tools and data for both novice and seasoned traders. It focuses on three key time horizons: Forward-Looking, Present, and Historical. Users benefit from features like stock screeners, which filter options trading opportunities based on factors such as underlying stock, expiration date, and option type. The platform also offers trading ideas, including earnings alerts and strategic options insights, to help users make well-informed decisions.
In summary, Market Chameleon stands out as a powerful platform for options research, valued for its accuracy and reliability in supporting investors and traders in the competitive market
Let’s break down the pricing options for Market Chameleon. They offer five tiers to suit different needs:
- Starter Tier: Free of charge, this tier provides a range of basic tools for stock trading, including a stock screener, gap-and-go stock lists, and insights into unusual stock and options order volumes. However, access to more advanced features is limited.
- Stock Trader Plan: At $39 per month, this plan gives you full access to Market Chameleon’s stock trading tools. It also allows you to download most of the available data, making it a solid choice for dedicated stock traders.
- Options Trader Plan: For $69 per month, this plan offers extensive features, including all options strategy screeners. Note, however, that it does not include analysis of how options activity might indicate price movements around earnings releases.
- Earnings Trader Plan: Priced at $79 per month, this plan focuses on comparing options activity with earnings moves but lacks the options screeners available in other plans.
- Total Access Plan: For $99 per month, this comprehensive plan provides all of Market Chameleon’s options data and earnings analysis features in one package, making it ideal for those seeking complete access to their tools and insights.
| Service Level | Price |
| Starter | $0 |
| Stock Trader | $39/month |
| Options Trader | $69/month |
| Earnings Trader | $79/month |
| Total Access | $99/month |
Market Chameleon offers a range of features designed to support informed trading decisions. Here’s a glimpse at some of the key functionalities:
Stock Market Research The platform provides various tools for stock traders, including:
- Top Gainers and Losers: Easily identify stocks with the biggest gains and losses.
- Trading Volumes: Monitor stocks with unusually high or low trading volumes.
- Gap Analysis: Track stocks that have gapped up or down during the trading day.
- Market Order Imbalances: Gain insights into market order imbalances, often driven by large funds trading based on closing prices.
If you prefer trading outside regular market hours, check out our detailed post on Market Chameleon’s after-hours trading tools.
Options Volume and Order Flow Market Chameleon excels with its options data, offering:
- Unusual Options Volume Scanner: Find stocks with higher-than-average options trading activity.
- Market Sentiment Tools: Access tools that provide valuable insights into market sentiment and potential trading opportunities.
These features are particularly useful for independent options traders looking for actionable data and trends.
Market Chameleon offers robust screeners for both stocks and options:
- Stock Screeners: The free stock screener provides a variety of filter parameters based on fundamentals and current events such as earnings. It focuses on technical aspects like percentage price changes and moving averages. For those interested in pre-market trading, check out our Market Chameleon pre-market movers report.
- Options Screeners: The options screeners are particularly powerful. You can create custom screens using 18 different strategies and adjust parameters such as risk, return potential, strike price spreads, and expiration dates to suit your needs.
Market Chameleon shines during earnings season with its comprehensive tools for identifying profitable earnings trading strategies. Their analysis page provides insights into overvalued or undervalued stocks around earnings announcements by comparing current options order activity with historical earnings performance. This helps you pinpoint potential opportunities and make informed trading decisions.
Market Chameleon allows you to create unlimited watchlists for both stocks and specific options contracts. You can apply any screening or analysis tool on the platform to your watchlist contents, tailoring your focus to your specific interests. Additionally, customizable email alerts keep you updated on the activity within your watchlists, ensuring you never miss important developments.
Beyond the core features, Market Chameleon offers a range of additional tools:
- Earnings Options Strategy Screener: This tool helps users pinpoint trading opportunities during earnings season. It allows filtering by various strategies, including Covered Calls, Naked Puts, Call Spreads, Put Spreads, and ATM Straddles.
- Seasonality Screener: Gain insights into a stock’s historical monthly performance with this screener. It helps investors identify potential seasonal trends and patterns in stock prices.
- Event-Driven Historical Insights: Analyze stock reactions to significant market events, such as interest rate decisions and economic reports. This tool provides valuable insights into how market-moving events might impact stock performance.
- Historical Price Return Distribution Report: Evaluate a stock’s or index’s historical performance by examining its return distribution. This report helps investors understand a stock’s risk and return profile.
- Implied Volatility Movers by Options Expiration: Track daily changes in implied volatility for various options expiration dates. This feature assists investors in spotting opportunities and managing risk exposure.
- Options Order Flow Sentiment Tools: Visualize the prevailing sentiment in options order flow with these tools, helping to identify stocks with strong bullish or bearish sentiment.
- Open Interest Analysis Dashboard: Provides a snapshot of open interest metrics, enabling users to monitor changes in the options market and uncover potential trading opportunities.
- Biotech Stock Catalyst Report for Options Traders: Focuses on biotech stocks and relevant events, offering specialized insights and analysis for options traders in the healthcare sector.
- Options Trader Tools: A suite of tools specifically designed for options traders, providing in-depth analysis of options strategies and performance.
- Stock and Options Screeners: The platform features a variety of screeners for stocks and options, helping users identify trading opportunities based on fundamental data, technical indicators, and price action.
- Diverse Tools: Includes features like a gap-and-go screener.
- Comprehensive Options Screener: Offers 18 different strategies for in-depth analysis.
- Market and Options Volume Imbalance Scanning: Identifies discrepancies in market order and options volume.
- Options-Implied Price Move Comparisons: Evaluates how options activity predicts price movements.
- Backtesting Capabilities: Allows for testing of options strategies.
- One-Week Free Trial: Provides an opportunity to explore the platform before committing.
- Total Access Plan May Be Essential: Most traders will likely need this plan for full functionality.
- Cumbersome User Interface: Navigation can be less intuitive.
- 15-Minute Market Delay: There is a delay in market data.
- No Mobile App: Platform is not available on mobile devices.
- Clunky Interface: The overall user experience can feel awkward.
- Pricing Tiers: Multiple plans may be confusing and costly for some users.
If you’re focused on options trading or tracking earnings releases, Market Chameleon could be an excellent fit. It offers valuable tools for stock traders, including a free stock screener, and excels in analyzing options flows and developing trading strategies, especially around corporate earnings.
However, the platform’s data can be complex, so it’s best suited for experienced options traders. Consider taking advantage of the 7-day free trial to explore its features and determine if it meets your needs.
