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McMillan Analysis Corporation
McMillan Analysis Corporation was founded in 1991 by Lawrence G.
McMillan Analysis Corporation
McMillan Analysis Corporation was founded in 1991 by Lawrence G. McMillan, a veteran options strategist and author whose work codified options trading for a generation of investors. The firm emerged from McMillan's earlier role as a proprietary options trader at Thomson McKinnon Securities, translating institutional trading discipline into a research service accessible to individual traders and RIAs. The entity operates from Morristown, New Jersey, without a sprawling corporate footprint, reflecting its focus on intellectual capital over asset gathering. The firm's strategy divides into two interconnected streams: a daily advisory newsletter and a separately managed account (SMA) program. The newsletter, MarketWatch Options Trader, applies McMillan's proprietary put-call ratio indicators and implied volatility screens to generate specific option-trade recommendations, including long equity anticipation securities (LEAPS) and covered call writing. Confirmed ETF coverage includes options on the S&P 500 (SPX), NASDAQ 100 (NDX), and iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM). The SMA program replicates the newsletter's model portfolio, trading through brokerage custody platforms. Unlike multi-strategy hedge funds, the firm avoids complex spreads and remains anchored to liquid, exchange-listed instruments across U.S. markets. The firm's overall scale remains undisclosed. McMillan serves as the sole named principal in all public-facing materials, suggesting a lean organizational structure. No adjacent philanthropic vehicles or separate venture arms are documented. McMillan remains active as the primary author of the daily newsletter, maintaining personal control over the intellectual property that underpins both the research and managed account businesses. McMillan's structural differentiator lies in its intellectual property moat. The firm owns a proprietary calculation engine for equity-only put-call ratios and volume-weighted volatility signals, data series McMillan has maintained since the mid-1990s that pre-date the commoditization of options analytics. This data set, combined with the textbook-author status of its founder, creates a subscriber-retention dynamic more typical of an academic publisher than a trading desk—providing recurring revenue stability not tied to absolute market performance.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
1991
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Morristown
Corporate office
Morristown, NJ, United States
Principals
Lawrence G. McMillan
President and Founder
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at McMillan Analysis Corporation?
Lawrence G. McMillan serves as President and principal decision-maker for both the research recommendations and the separately managed account portfolios. He personally authors the daily MarketWatch Options Trader newsletter, which is the primary source of trade signals the firm uses. No other portfolio managers or investment committee members are publicly named.
How does the firm generate its trade recommendations?
The firm relies on proprietary options sentiment indicators that McMillan has maintained for decades, most notably equity-only put-call ratios and implied volatility calculations. These quantitative signals are combined with price-chart and trend analysis to produce specific option-trade recommendations, typically involving straight calls, puts, or covered writes on major indexes and select large-cap stocks.
Is McMillan Analysis a research firm, a money manager, or both?
It operates as both. The core business is a subscription-based research publication, MarketWatch Options Trader, which delivers daily options trade recommendations to individual and professional subscribers. A parallel arm, the McMillan Analysis managed account program, executes those same recommendations in client accounts held at third-party custodians, charging a management fee based on assets.
What asset classes and instruments does the firm trade?
The firm's strategies focus exclusively on exchange-listed options and equity securities in U.S. markets. Common underlyings include SPX and NDX index options, options on broad-market ETFs such as IWM, and occasionally options on individual large-cap stocks. The firm does not participate in OTC derivatives, fixed income, or private markets.
Does McMillan Analysis run a hedge fund or pooled vehicle?
No pooled partnership or hedge fund structure is associated with the firm. The managed account program operates on a separately managed, non-pooled basis, meaning clients retain ownership of their individual accounts and the firm does not run a commingled fund with its own net asset value. The research service is available by direct subscription without a capital commitment.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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