CHICAGO, Dec. 22, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Looking ahead to the market expectations of 2010, nearly 75% of retail investors surveyed by optionsXpress (Nasdaq:OXPS) believe the S&P will trade within or above its current 2010 range, with 47% seeing a gain of more than 5% and 16.1% seeing markets up more than 14% in the coming year.
Retail investors also see more options trading ahead: 50.8% of retail investors plan to increase their allocation of assets to options strategies in 2010, versus only 2.6% who plan to decrease their focus on options. The survey polled 386 retail investors during a one-week period from December 1 - 11.
"Overall current retail investor sentiment is supporting the idea that the positive market run that began in March will continue its momentum in 2010," said David Fisher, CEO of optionsXpress. "The survey also supports the continued growth of options trading through 2010. This is in line with the increased volumes we've seen over the past few years in the use of options by retail investors."
When asked what portion of their portfolio they plan to allocate to options strategies next year, 13.2% of retail investors said they plan to allocate a significantly higher amount, 37.6% plan to allocate a higher amount, 40.9% plan to invest the same, 5.7% plan to lower their allocation and 2.6% plan to significantly decrease their allocation.
When asked what range the S&P 500 will trade at in 2010, 5.4% responded above 1350, 10.7% responded 1250 - 1350, 32.7% responded 1150 - 1250, 25.6% responded 1050 - 1150, 13.4% responded 950 - 1050, 6.5% responded 850 - 950 and 5.7% responded below 850.
The survey was conducted by optionsXpress as part of a monthly series that assesses investor sentiment.
About optionsXpress Holdings, Inc.
optionsXpress Holdings, Inc., a pioneer in equity options and futures trading, offers an innovative suite of online brokerage services for investor education, strategy evaluation and trade execution. optionsXpress Holdings subsidiaries include optionsXpress, Inc., a retail online brokerage specializing in options and futures, brokersXpress, LLC, an online trading and reporting platform for independent investment professionals, Open E Cry, LLC, an innovative futures broker offering direct access futures trading for high volume commodities and futures traders through its proprietary software platform, and Optionetics, Inc, a leading provider of investment education services, including live seminars, proprietary software analytics, online and offline educational products and individual coaching.
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