Jon Markman

Editor, Trader's Advantage and CounterPoint Options

Jon Markman is the editor of Trader’s Advantage, a daily trading service that leverages his unique swing trading principles and aims to capture profits of 7% to 15% — and often much more with his options trades — in less than 90 days. By combining technical analysis with underlying fundamentals, Jon recommends beaten down stocks on the brink of reversal and powerful momentum stocks breaking out to new highs.

In CounterPoint Options Jon helps options traders lock in consistent profits from the volatility that rocks the market. At its heart is a proprietary trading system, Magnitude, that pinpoints indexes or sectors that have reached a critical inflection point — then translates that signal into profitable trades.

CounterPoint Options keeps volatility options trading very simple, focusing on the most popular, highly traded exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that are headed for a key reversal. Magnitude scans the market and allows subscribers to take advantage of these very liquid trading opportunities.

When CounterPoint Options first launched, it was focused solely on trading the VIX, commonly known as the “fear index.” When traders start buying up put options as “portfolio insurance,” the VIX spikes — a phenomenon that we’ll either trade directly, or use to inform our ETF trades on specific slices of the market. Our agile (and highly lucrative) strategy lets us turn volatility into profits… just like professional traders and hedge funds have been doing for years.

CounterPoint Options helps individual traders make steady, consistent profits from a very methodical approach to growing your portfolio in the midst of a turbulent market.

A pioneer in the development of stock-rating systems and screening software, Jon Markman is co-inventor on two Microsoft patents and author of the best-selling books Swing Trading and Online Investing. He was portfolio manager and senior investment strategist at a multi-strategy hedge fund from 2002 to 2005; managing editor and columnist at CNBC on MSN Money from 1997 to 2002; and an editor, investment columnist and investigative reporter at the Los Angeles Times from 1984 to 1997.

Jon won a Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Financial Journalism for his columns explaining market chicanery in 2002; Society of Professional Journalists awards for his 2001 reporting on Enron and the post-Sept. 11-investment environment; and was a news editor on the Los Angeles Times staff that won Pulitzer Prizes for spot-news reporting in 1992 and 1994.

A graduate of Duke University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Jon speaks frequently on investment topics at conferences nationwide, as well as on TV and radio.

Recent Articles

Data Points to Recession

By Jon Markman, Editor, Trader's Advantage and CounterPoint Options Aug 6, 2008

Jobs are the bedrock of the U.S. and world economy. We know from academic studies and common sense that people who don't have jobs don't buy things, and people who know people who are losing their jobs also curtail their purchasing. It's a vicious cycle, and after a very weak employment report this week, the cycle may be gathering strength. Get all the details now.

Steelmakers Still a Steal

By Jon Markman, Editor, Trader's Advantage and CounterPoint Options Jul 31, 2008

Oil has finally come down off its highs, and investors are looking for the next hot sector. Want to know where they're headed next? Steel. Read on to find out which companies in the booming steel market are due for an influx of oil money.

A Financial-Led Rally?

By Jon Markman, Editor, Trader's Advantage and CounterPoint Options Jul 31, 2008

Everyone is speculating about financial stocks and if we've seen a "dead-cat bounce" or a true bottom. Read on to get the truth about the banking industry and what's ahead for these stocks as well as the rest of the market.

Is it Time for Market-Beating Money from Bank Stocks?

By Jon Markman, Editor, Trader's Advantage and CounterPoint Options Jul 29, 2008

Although they may recover some of their losses, the banks and brokers are unlikely to be among the leaders of the next bull market, whenever it starts. So we might as well just stop thinking about buying them as value plays every time they seem to get cheaper.

Don’t Trust the Bank Bounce

By Jon Markman, Editor, Trader's Advantage and CounterPoint Options Jul 24, 2008

Government officials tried to pull off something that no administration has EVER come close to accomplishing: kill off short-sellers and oil speculators while quelling inflation and turning banks' losses into profits!