This commentary first appeared on Forbes Great Speculations, where Schaeffer’s Investment Research is a regular contributor.
Though Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) stock sports a 50.6% nine-month lead, it has struggled so far in 2026, last seen carrying a 6.3% deficit for January. Shares gapped lower after hitting a Jan. 9, record high of $88.77, though newly formed resistance-turned-support at the $75 level contained those losses. Better yet, this pullback placed the security near a historically bullish trendline that could catapult SYF higher in the coming weeks.
Per Schaeffer’s Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White, SYF is within 0.75 of its 126-day moving average’s 20-day average true range (ATR), after remaining above it 80% of the time over the last two weeks, and 80% of the past 42 trading sessions. This signal has occurred another 14 times in the last 10 years, after which the stock was higher one month later 64% those times with an average 5.5% gain. From its current perch of $77.94, this would place SYF back above $82.
Options traders already lean bullish. This is per the equity’s 50-day call/put volume ratio of 4.25 over at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which sits higher than 84% of annual readings.
Options look affordable, too, per the security’s Schaeffer’s Volatility Index (SVI) of 41%, which ranks in the 22nd percentile of the last 12 months. It’s also worth noting that SYF’s Schaeffer’s Volatility Scorecard (SVS) ranks at high 85 out of 100, indicating it has tended to exceed option traders’ volatility expectations during the past year.
