Investor Optimism Apparent in Yahoo! Options Action
by Andrew Wilkinson - July 8th, 2010 5:59 pm
Today’s tickers: YHOO, PG, MWW, PWER, IYR, HRB, ANF, CSC & EWH
YHOO – Yahoo!, Inc. – The online media company made an appearance on our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner after one investor initiated a long-term bullish stance on the stock. Yahoo’s shares increased 1.10% to stand at $14.56 by 3:05 pm (ET). Optimism on the operator of one of the most heavily trafficked Internet destinations was perhaps inspired by words from the firm’s CFO, Tim Morse, who intends to end the company’s pattern of poor M&A decisions. Morse addressed Yahoo’s history of overpaying for acquisitions and later selling those assets at a disadvantageous price by announcing plans to improve the company’s return on invested capital to 18% to 24% in 2013 from approximately 5% in 2009. One optimistic options trader opted to purchase a plain-vanilla debit call spread on Yahoo! in order to position for share price appreciation through expiration in January 2011. The investor picked up 5,000 in-the-money calls at the January 2011 $14 strike for a premium of $1.92 apiece, and sold the same number of calls at the higher January 2011 $17.5 strike for a premium of $0.58 each. Net premium paid to establish the spread amounts to $1.34 per contract. Thus, the bullish trader makes money if Yahoo’s shares rally 5.35% to trade above the effective breakeven point on the spread at $15.34 by expiration day in January 2011. The investor exits with maximum potential profits of $2.16 per contract if the online media company’s shares surge 20.2% over the current price of $14.56 to trade above $17.50 by expiration.
PG – The Proctor & Gamble Co. – Investor demand for call options on the global provider of branded packaged consumer goods surged during afternoon trading with options participants exchanging more than 4.4 calls on the stock to each single put option in play thus far in the session. PG’s shares rallied 1.7% to $61.85 by 3:30 pm (ET). It looks like bullish players expecting Proctor & Gamble’s shares to trade at a new 52-week high by August expiration purchased at least 17,900 calls options at the August $65 strike for an average premium of $0.21 per contract. Call buyers are poised to profit should shares of the underlying stock jump 5.4%, surpass the stock’s current 52-week high of $64.10, and trade above the average breakeven price of $65.21 by August expiration.…
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Put Volume Explodes on iShares MSCI Hong Kong Index ETF
by Andrew Wilkinson - December 2nd, 2009 4:38 pm
Today’s tickers: EWH, HPQ, M, GLD, LCC, KRE, BBY, WAG & DYAX
EWH – iShares MSCI Hong Kong Index Fund – The EWH popped onto our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner today after one investor traded 70,000 put options on the fund. Shares of the ETF are up 0.25% this afternoon to stand at $16.22. It appears the trader shed 35,000 puts at the January 14 strike for 10 cents apiece in order to partially offset the cost of purchasing 35,000 puts at the June 14 strike for 65 cents each. The net cost of the protective play amounts to 55 cents per contract. The nearer-term short put position in the January contract implies the investor does not expect shares to dip below $14.00 by expiration in less than two months. The investors stands ready to have a whopping 3,500,000 shares of the underlying put to him at $14.00 apiece in the event that the put options do land in-the-money. The long put position in the June 2010 contract suggests the trader is already long the stock. He is most likely extending downside protection on the underlying position for the next seven months before expiration. Shares of the EWH would need to fall 17% from the current price in order for downside protection to kick in beneath the breakeven point at $13.45. We note that shares of the fund have traded above $14.00 since July 15, 2009.
HPQ – Hewlett-Packard Co. – Medium-term bullish trading graced the global technology company’s February 2010 contract despite a 1% decline in HPQ shares this afternoon to $49.06. A risk reversal by one option player suggests shares could increase significantly by expiration in February. The trader sold 12,000 puts at the February 40 strike for an average premium of 27 cents apiece, and bought the same number of calls at the higher February 60 strike for 8 pennies each. The transaction yields a net credit of 19 cents per contract. The investor retains the full credit as long as HPQ’s shares remain above $40.00 through expiration day. Additional profits accumulate if the stock surges 22% higher than the current price to surpass the $60-level. The long call position probably serves more as a stop loss, or insurance policy, on the trade in the unlikely event that shares do jump more than 22% in the next three months. The reversal was more likely…
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Philip R. Davis is a founder Phil's Stock World, a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders...
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