Contrarian Player Constructs Three-Legged Bullish Spread on Sprint Nextel Corp.
by Andrew Wilkinson - November 4th, 2010 5:55 am
Today’s tickers: S, WFC, LAMR, MGM, AMR, CASY & AIG
S - Sprint Nextel Corp. – A sizeable long-term bullish transaction involving 30,000 option contracts on Sprint Nextel Corp. indicates one optimistic player expects shares in the telecommunications company to rebound ahead of February 2011 expiration. Since reporting third-quarter earnings the morning of October 27, 2010, Sprint’s shares have fallen as much as 20.4% from a high of $4.85 on October 26 to today’s lowest value of $3.86. It looks like the 20% correction in the price of the underlying stock has made conditions favorable enough for this contrarian strategist to establish a relatively cheap bullish stance on Sprint. The trader enacted a three-legged bullish position, selling a chunk of put options in order to partially finance the purchase of a debit call spread. Sprint’s shares have recovered off their intraday low of $3.86 and are currently down 2.2% to stance at $4.01 as of 2:55 pm. The investor sold 10,000 puts at the February 2011 $3.5 strike for a premium of $0.21 each, purchased 10,000 now in-the-money calls at the February 2011 $4.0 strike at a premium of $0.43 per contract, and sold 10,000 calls at the February 2011 $5.0 strike for a premium of $0.16 apiece. Net premium paid to initiate the three-legged spread amounts to $0.06 per contract. The investor responsible for the transaction makes money if Sprint’s shares rally 1.25% over the current price of $4.01 to surpass the effective breakeven point at $4.06 by expiration day in February. The bullish trader will walk away with maximum potential profits of $0.94 per contract if Sprint’s shares surge 24.7% and trade above $5.00 ahead of expiration next year. The short stance in Feb. 2011 $3.5 strike puts implies the investor sees shares trading above $3.50, but also indicates his willingness to have 1 million shares of the underlying put to him at that price if the puts should land in-the-money by expiration. Interestingly, Sprint is scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings…
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Bulls Eye Options on MGM Resorts International Ahead of Q2 Earnings
by Andrew Wilkinson - July 27th, 2010 4:55 pm
Today’s tickers: MGM, SLV, CISG, GENZ, XRX, JNPR & DD
MGM – MGM Resorts International – The operator of casino resorts attracted bullish options players this afternoon with the price of the underlying stock rallying as much as 3.65% to an intraday high of $11.36. It looks like investors expecting shares to continue higher ahead of August expiration purchased call options. The most optimistic of individuals picked up approximately 5,200 calls at the August $13 strike for an average premium of $0.21 each. Call buyers at this strike make money if MGM’s shares surge 16.3% to trade above the average breakeven price on the upside at $13.21 by expiration day next month. Other bullish traders who are perhaps hoping shares can retain the present rally, but not looking for shares to move much higher ahead of expiration in August, sold 3,000 puts at the August $10 strike for an average premium of $0.37 each. If investors are selling these puts outright, they walk away with the full premium received on the transaction as long as MGM’s shares exceed $10.00 through expiration day. Investors populating MGM Resorts International today exchanged more than 2.2 call options for each single put option in play on the stock as of 3:45 pm ET. MGM is scheduled to report its second-quarter results ahead of the opening bell of August 3, 2010.
SLV – iShares Silver Trust ETF – Shares of the iShares Silver Trust fell more than 2.90% to $17.26 in late afternoon trading inspiring some traders to load up on put options. Fresh put activity was most heavily concentrated in the September contract where current put volume at in- and out-of-the-money strikes exceeds previously existing open interest. Investors bracing for further bearish movement in the price of the SLV’s shares purchased 1,900 in-the-money puts at the September $18 strike for an average premium of $1.17 apiece. In-the-money put buyers are prepared to profit should shares of the fund decline another 2.5% to slip beneath the average breakeven point on the downside at $16.83 by September expiration. Put volume was heaviest at the September $16 strike where more than 16,700 contracts changed hands by 3:25 pm ET. It looks like investors purchased at least 14,400 of those lots for an average premium of $0.29 each. Shares of the fund must fall 9.00% from the current price before September $16 strike put buyers breakeven at a…
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Bulls Itching for Rebound in Shares of MGM Resorts International, Inc.
by Andrew Wilkinson - June 30th, 2010 4:40 pm
Today’s tickers: MGM, WFT, HD, OC, APC, TLB & RBCN
MGM – MGM Resorts International, Inc. – The casino resort operator’s shares rebounded 0.60% during afternoon trading to arrive at $10.11 by 1:50 pm (ET). MGM’s shares fell as much as 13.85% from Monday’s opening price of $11.56 to Tuesday’s intraday low of $9.96. Optimistic options investors expecting the casino operator’s shares to continue to rebound ahead of July expiration day purchased debit call spreads. Traders picked up approximately 5,000 calls at the July $11 strike for an average premium of $0.28 apiece, and sold about the same number of calls at the higher July $12 strike for an average premium of $0.08 each. Net premium paid for the spreads amounts to an average of $0.20 per contract. Investors positioning for a rally are positioned to make money if MGM’s shares jump 10.8% to trade above the average breakeven price of $11.20 by expiration next month. Shares of the underlying stock must surge 18.7% and exceed $12.00 in order for call spreader to walk away with maximum potential profits of $0.80 per contract by July expiration.
WFT – Weatherford International Ltd. – Shares of the provider of equipment and services used for the drilling, completion and production of oil and natural gas wells are up 1.35% to stand at $13.48 as of 2:05 pm (ET). WFT popped up on our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner in afternoon trading due to bullish activity in the August contract. It looks like investor expecting Weatherford’s shares to continue to appreciate over the next couple of months are engaging in plain-vanilla call buying on the stock. Traders picked up roughly 4,200 in-the-money calls at the August $13 strike for an average premium of $1.48 apiece. Investors long the calls are prepared to profit should shares of the underlying stock rally another 7.4% over the current price to surpass the average breakeven point to the upside at $14.48 by August expiration. Bullish sentiment spread to the higher August $15 strike where investors paid an average premium of $0.56 per contract to take ownership of 3,400 call options. Optimistic individuals long the higher strike calls make money if WFT’s shares surge more than 15.4% to exceed the effective breakeven price of $15.56 by expiration day in August.
HD – Home Depot, Inc. – The home improvement supplies retailer attracted bearish options strategists throughout the…
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Sabrient Select Opportunity Portfolio
by Sabrient - June 22nd, 2010 2:41 am
Sample one of Sabrient’s premium products, Sabrient Select Opportunity Portfolio.
Courtesy of Sabrient
This Sabrient Select Opportunity Portfolio is a high-performance, proprietary product for sophisticated active traders, active portfolio managers or hedge fund managers. Our Lead Trader publishes a weekly fundamentals-based,quantitative Watch List of the top Long and Short candidates. Then he overlays a technical entry/exit trigger on top of this Watch List. Each day, he identifies those stocks that have triggered their planned technical entry or exit signals, and sends an alert to the client for appropriate action.
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Goldman Sachs-Bulls with Butterfly Wings are at it Again
by Andrew Wilkinson - April 27th, 2010 5:22 pm
Today’s tickers: GS, WU, DSW, MGM, WMT, BAC, EEM, WLP, HD & MMM
GS – Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. – Goldman-optimists are once again employing bullish butterfly spreads on the stock in order to efficiently position themselves to profit from an eventual rebound in the investment banking firm’s share price. Goldman Sachs, one of the top tickers on our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner, glowed green amid a sea of red today as its shares inched up 1.75% to $154.69 as of 3:20 pm (ET). The bullish butterfly spread initiated on GS this afternoon yields maximum benefits to the investor responsible for the transaction if shares of the underlying stock jump back up to $175.00 by October expiration. The parameters of this spread are a bit different than the larger-volume butterfly spread we reported on Monday afternoon, which prepared an investor to reap maximum profits should Goldman’s shares rally up to $160.00 by expiration day. Today’s transaction involved the purchase of 2,000 calls at the October $160 strike for an average premium of $12.80 apiece [wing 1], and the purchase of another 2,000 calls at the higher October $190 strike for $3.90 each [wing 2]. The body of the butterfly was established at the central October $175 strike where 4,000 calls were sold for $7.20 a-pop. Net premium paid for the spread amounts to $2.30 per contract. The net cost of the trade pales in comparison to maximum available profits of $12.70 per contract, which the trader pockets if Goldman’s shares surge 13% over the current price to settle at $175.00 at expiration. The butterfly-spreader starts to make money as long as shares of the underlying stock increase 4.9% to surpass the breakeven point to the upside at $162.30 ahead of October expiration.
WU – Western Union Co. – Shares of the world’s largest money-transfer business surged 9.25% to an intraday high of $19.57 after the firm posted first-quarter earnings of $0.30 per share, which satisfied average analyst forecasts. A couple of analysts raised target share price estimates for Western Union following the positive earnings report. WU’s target price was bumped up to $23 from $19 at Susquehanna, in addition to the move up to $21 from $18 at D.A. Davidson today. Western Union’s current CEO, Christina Gold, is also reportedly handing over the reins to the current COO, Hikmet Ersek, on September 1, 2010. One Western Union…
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Bears Bombard Blackberry-Maker, Research in Motion
by Andrew Wilkinson - March 1st, 2010 5:00 pm
Today’s tickers: RIMM, CAT, MGM, F, SLM, FRX, FXI, MWW & AIG
RIMM – Research in Motion Limited – Blackberry maker, Research in Motion, attracted bearish options strategists even though the firm’s target share price was upped to $100.00 this morning from $95.00 at Canaccord Adams. RIMM opened the session higher, but slipped slightly in afternoon trading by 0.05% to $70.85. One bearish tactic employed today was the use of a plain-vanilla put spread in the March contract. The trader responsible for the transaction purchased 4,400 puts at the March $65 strike for a premium of $0.54 apiece and sold the same number of puts at the lower March $60 strike for $0.20 each. The net cost of the spread amounts to $0.34 per contract. Maximum potential profits of $4.66 per contract are available to the investor if RIMM’s share price slumps 15.30% beneath the current value to $60.00 by expiration. We note that the mobile device manufacturer’s shares last traded below $60.00 on December 4, 2009. The bearish risk reversal is another pessimistic tactic utilized today. One trader sold 5,000 calls at the April $75 strike for a premium of $2.66 each in order to purchase 5,000 puts at the lower April $70 strike for $3.80 apiece. The net cost of the reversal play amounts to $1.14 per contract. The investor stands ready to accrue profits to the downside if shares of the underlying stock trade beneath the effective breakeven point at $68.86 by expiration in April.
CAT – Caterpillar, Inc. – February marked the seventh consecutive month of manufacturing expansion in the United States; this fact, coupled with today’s jump in equities’ prices, inspired bullish options trading on machine-maker, Caterpillar. CAT’s shares rallied 1.50% during the session to $57.92 after its earnings forecast through the year 2012 were increased by analysts at Morgan Stanley. MS maintains an ‘overweight’ rating on CAT and a $70 share price target, at present. Bullish options activity appeared on the put side of the field where one investor established a credit spread. The trader sold roughly 16,300 puts at the April $55 strike for a premium of $1.38 apiece, and purchased the same number of puts at the lower April $50 strike for $0.47 each. The investor pockets a net credit of $0.91 per contract, and keeps the full amount as long as Caterpillar’s share price remains above $55.00 through expiration day in…
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MGM Mirage Losses Inspire Downside Plays in Options
by Andrew Wilkinson - February 18th, 2010 4:06 pm
Today’s tickers: MGM, ANF, JPM, XLP, XNPT, HANS & SIRI
MGM – MGM Mirage, Inc. – The Las Vegas Strip’s largest casino owner posted a wider-than-expected fourth-quarter loss of $0.25 per share, which underwhelmed analysts anticipating an average loss of just $0.14 a share. Mirage’s shares fell nearly 7% today to $10.85 following the earnings disappointment. One options investor, who does not expect MGM’s luck to change anytime soon, established a medium-term bearish trade on MGM to position for continued downward movement in the price of the underlying stock through June expiration. The trader purchased 2,000 puts at the now in-the-money June $11 strike for a premium of $1.68 apiece, and sold 2,000 puts at the lower June $8 strike for $0.52 each. The net cost of the debit put spread amounts to $1.16 per contract. Maximum available profits of $1.84 per contract accumulate for the pessimistic investor if the casino-operator’s share price slumps another 26.25% lower to $8.00 by expiration day.
ANF – Abercrombie & Fitch Co. – Short straddle plays initiated on clothing company, Abercrombie & Fitch, suggests investors expect ANF-shares to remain range-bound and anticipate lower volatility in the price of the underlying stock through March expiration. Shares of the teen and ‘tween haven for micro-mini jean skirts and pre-destroyed t-shirts rallied 1% to $35.72 today. However, straddle-sellers apparently foresee little movement for shares in either direction from the current value. Investors sold approximately 6,600 puts at the March $35 strike for an average premium of $1.44 apiece in combination with the sale of 6,600 calls at the same strike for $1.46 each. The average gross premium pocketed on the transaction amounts to $2.90 per contract. Traders retain the full premium received today if Abercrombie’s shares settle at $35.00 at expiration. Investors are vulnerable to losses, however, in the event that shares trade outside of the effective breakeven points. Losses accumulate should shares rally above the upper breakeven price of $37.90, or if the stock falls below the lower breakeven point at $32.10, ahead of expiration day in March.
JPM – JPMorgan Chase & Co. – A large-volume ratio call spread enacted on banking institution, JPMorgan Chase, indicates one big options player expects shares of the underlying stock to rally significantly by June expiration. The firm received an upgrade to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ with a 12-month target share price of $49.00 at Sandler O’Neill today as…
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Wild Weekly Wrap Up – Only Halfway Through January!
by Phil - January 16th, 2010 8:29 am
Wheee, what a ride!
The week can be neatly summed up by my 1:35 comment to Members in yesterday’s chat, summed the week up quite nicely as I said: "So funny, a whole week of gains I thought were ridiculous wiped out in 4 hours." Of course it’s easy to laugh when you play the market correctly – as I had said in the morning post, we had cashed out into Thursday’s run up and planned on going bearish through the weekend but it turned out we got our sell-off early, jumping the $100K Portfolio, for example, up 12% in one day – enough to send us back to cash rather than risk a weekend reversal.
We laid the groundwork for this little sell-off in last weekend’s posts as we put up an aggressive Buy List for Members but in my regular weekend post we emphasized the need to cover our buys with "Disaster Hedges" as we were heading to the tops I had predicted when I published the "Last Charts of the Decade," where I set resistance target of Dow 10,457, S&P 1,135, Nasdaq 2,314, NYSE 7,389 and Russell 638. As you can see, I pretty much hit them on the head, other than the Dow but that’s because our year-old 5% rule calculations did not account for the change in the Dow that replaced C and GM with TRV and CVX, who added about 100 Dow points since their inclusion so we started using 10,549 this month and we’ll make it 10,557 for today’s chart, which makes perfect sense looking at this group (I added the Transports as they are fell right off our 2,000 target, giving us the early warning that things were not right):
As you can see, the 5% Rule rules! I will apologize for being such a grump this week but the rally was really starting to annoy me as it was so blatantly forced up through our levels without a proper test that is was really getting me down about the markets. I don’t mind that the markets are manipulated, that’s been going on since markets were invented – it’s stupid and destructive manipulation that bothers me, the kind that, long term, destroys more investor confidence than it builds and squanders capital resources on the "wrong" companies (and now, ETFs!).
In this case, very precious investor capital is being steered into commodities, which is a…
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Investor Initiates Volatility Play on Alcoa Ahead of Earnings
by Andrew Wilkinson - January 11th, 2010 4:13 pm
Today’s tickers: AA, GLD, MGM, NXY, INTC, NDAQ, ANDS, F, EEM, MMR & MELI
AA – Alcoa, Inc. – A short straddle play on the largest U.S. producer of aluminum today implies one investor anticipates Alcoa’s shares will remain range-bound through January’s expiration on Friday. Alcoa’s shares appreciated 1% to a new 52-week high of $17.20 (as of 12:40 pm EDT) during the session. According to one Bloomberg article, the firm may report fourth-quarter profits of $0.06 per share today. The sold straddle strategy also indicates the trader expects lower volatility in the price per share. Perhaps this individual is taking advantage of the typical drop in option implied volatility, which tends to accompany earnings announcements. The investor sold 10,000 calls at the January $17.50 strike for a premium of $0.59 apiece, and sold 10,000 puts at the same strike for about $0.69 each. The gross premium pocketed on the trade amounts to $1.28 per contract. The full $1.28 premium is safe in the investor’s wallet if the contracts expire worthless at a share price of $17.50 on Friday. The short call and put positions established today leave the investor vulnerable to potential losses in the event that Alcoa’s shares swing outside of the breakeven boundaries. Losses accrue if shares edge beneath the lower breakeven price of $16.22, or if shares rise above the upper breakeven point at $18.78.
GLD – SPDR Gold Trust ETF – Shares of the exchange-traded fund, which mirrors the price of gold bullion, may be up more than 1.25% to $112.82 today, but option traders populated various contracts with bearish strategies. A hefty put spread appeared in the June contract. The transaction involved the purchase of 17,000 puts at the June $105 strike for a premium of $3.50 each, marked against the sale of 17,000 puts at the lower June $95 strike for roughly $0.52 apiece. The net cost of the pessimistic play amounts to $2.98 per contract. If the investor is holding a long position in GLD shares, the spread provides downside protection in case shares slip beneath the breakeven price of $102.02, by expiration in June. Additional bearish indications appeared in the September contract. One trader initiated a risk reversal by selling 5,000 calls at the September $130 strike for $4.55 each, spread against the purchase of 5,000 puts at the lower September $100 strike for $3.60 apiece. GLD’s shares must trade beneath…
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Option Traders Try Their Luck with Out-of-the-Money Calls on MGM Mirage
by Andrew Wilkinson - December 23rd, 2009 4:13 pm
Today’s tickers: MGM, EWC, EWZ, DHI, XLF, GLW, TRA, CF, PHM, GFI & EBAY
MGM – MGM Mirage, Inc. – Shares of casino resort operator, MGM Mirage, rallied 5.25% this afternoon to $9.62. Option traders expecting shares to rally significantly in the next 12 months bought call options in the January 2011 contract. Approximately 20,000 calls were purchased at the January 2011 20 strike for an average premium of 70 cents per contract. Investors break even on the calls if MGM’s shares more than double by expiration. Shares must rally at least 115% to the breakeven price of $20.70 in order for call-buyers to begin to accumulate profits.
EWC – iShares MSCI Canada Index ETF – The exchange-traded fund, which mirrors the performance of publicly traded securities in the Canadian market, attracted pessimistic option players. The bearish risk reversal established on the fund contrasts with the nearly 1.5% rally in shares of the underlying to $26.30 during the session. It appears one investor sold 12,500 calls at the June 27 strike for a premium of 1.60 each, spread against the purchase of the same number of calls at the lower June 26 strike for two dollars premium apiece. The net cost of the reversal amounts to 40 cents per contract. Profits on the trade – assuming the investor holds no underlying stock position – accrue if shares of the EWC slip beneath the breakeven point to the downside at $25.60 by expiration in June 2010.
EWZ – iShares MSCI Brazil Index ETF – A number of bullish trades on the Brazil exchange-traded fund today suggest shares of the EWZ are set to rally in the first few months of the new year. Shares edged 1.5% higher during the trading day to stand at $73.21. Optimistic traders employed a number of different option strategies in order to position for bullish movement in the price of the underlying stock. One trader initiated a risk reversal in the January contract by selling 6,000 puts at the January 72 strike for 1.80 each, spread against the purchase of 6,000 in-the-money calls at the same strike for 2.70 apiece. The cost of getting long the call options is reduced to 90 cents per contract for the reversal player. Profits on the position amass above the breakeven price of $72.90. Another option bull unfurled the wings of a butterfly spread in the March contract. The trader…
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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...
Ilene is editor and affiliate program
coordinator for PSW. She manages the Favorites backup site
(