The short-term outlook of many in the options market has veteran trader Pete Najarian holding the fewest number of trades in his career, he told CNBC on Wednesday.
"I have the smallest amount of equity in the options world that I've ever had since I've been trading," Najarian, co-founder of options trading hub Investitute, said on CNBC's "Halftime Report."
"It's difficult right now to find out where is the best place to place your money," Najarian added.
Najarian owns 11 options, all expiring in less than two weeks. He said he needs "to see the derivatives market deliver" before he adds anything else. The lack of clear options trading, especially as few have an outlook of more than a month, is keeping Najarian largely on the sidelines.
He pointed to the 2019 guidance from United Technologies in the company's latest earnings report as "interesting" because of the clarity from executives. That kind of forward looking clarity has become rare, he thinks.
"Everything's short term," Najarian said. "There's been about three months worth of people saying 'I can't figure [the next] six months out' ... they seem to be very short term."
The short term view traces back to the "when October hit," he said, as the market's contracting outlook has happened especially "in the last two months." He doesn't believe in the "January run" up in stocks, as Najarian said it's been "too much, too fast."
Najarian has been trading options professionally since 1992.