Straddle-Seller Sees Range-Bound Shares for Avanir Pharmaceuticals
by Andrew Wilkinson - September 3rd, 2010 5:09 pm
Today’s tickers: AVNR, S, ORCL, TSN, PSS, XRT & BX
AVNR – Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – Shares of the pharmaceuticals firm fell as much as 9.6% this afternoon to an intraday low of $2.64 on news the company filed for a mixed shelf offering for up to $75 million. Options volume on the stock surged late in the session after one strategist sold a straddle in the December contract. The short straddle suggests the trader expects AVNR’s shares to trade within a specified range through expiration day in the final month of the year. The investor sold approximately 8,440 puts at the December $2.5 strike and sold 8,440 calls at the same strike to take in gross premium of $2.025 per contract. The straddle-seller retains the full amount of premium received if Avanir’s shares settle at $2.50 at expiration. However, the short stance taken in both call and put options expose him to losses should shares shift significantly in either direction away with from the strike price selected. Losses are certainly limited to the downside because shares cannot fall below $0.00. Thus, the investor faces maximum potential losses of $0.475 per contract in the event that Avanir’s shares are worthless at expiration. Losses could be more painful if AVNR shares suddenly fly upward. Shares would need to jump 71.4% to shatter the current 52-week high on the stock of $3.72 in order for losses to start to accumulate for the trader above the effective breakeven price to the upside at $4.525 by expiration. The strategy seems to indicate that the investor does not see AVNR shares collapsing to $0.00, but also suggests shares are not likely rally substantially any time soon.
S – Sprint Nextel Corp. – The wireless and wireline telecommunications company was one of the 10 most actively traded stocks on the New York Stock Exchange as of 1:00 pm ET this afternoon, and was also one of the most actively traded in terms of options volume today. Sprint’s shares earlier rallied 2.30% to record an intraday high of $4.44, but are currently up a lesser 1.15% at $4.39 as of 2:30 pm ET. Shares were perhaps higher on reports out this morning that suggested Sprint is currently looking at a possible November release date for Samsung’s Galaxy Tablet, which is a device aimed at rivaling Apple’s iPad. The vast majority of contracts exchanged on Sprint Nextel Corp.…
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Gold Bulls and Bears Place Bets on Bullion
by Andrew Wilkinson - December 3rd, 2009 4:12 pm
Today’s tickers: GLD, MTG, ACN, BAC, HUN, PSS, ARO, HUN, APWR & FDO
GLD – SPDR Gold Trust ETF – Surprise, surprise…shares of the gold exchange-traded fund reached another record high by climbing up to $119.42 today. We observed one investor initiate a contrarian play in the January 2010 contract. The trader established a bearish risk reversal by selling 4,000 calls at the January 120 strike for 3.65 apiece, spread against the purchase of 4,000 puts at the same strike for 4.60 each. The net cost of the spread amounts to 95 cents per contract. The trader, if long shares of the underlying, enacted downside protection to hedge against potential declines in the price of gold through expiration in January. Perhaps this investor believes gold has peaked, at least as far as the next couple of months are concerned. In contrast, longer-term trading in the September contract was decidedly bullish. The trader sold 5,750 puts at the September 117 strike for 9.35 apiece in order to finance the purchase of the same number of calls at the higher September 140 strike for an average premium of 5.88 each. The investor banks a net credit of 3.47 per contract on the transaction, which he retains in full as long as shares remain higher than $117.00 through expiration. Additional profits amass if shares jump 17% to surpass the $140-level by expiration in September.
MGT – MGIC Investments Corp. – Bullish investors populated MGIC Investments Corporation with various optimistic option strategies throughout the trading day. Shares surged 20% to $5.10 after its Wisconsin regulator waived minimum capital requirements for two years. This permits the company to continue selling coverage despite nine straight quarterly losses. Investor reacted by picking up nearly 5,000 calls at the now in-the-money December 5.0 strike for an average premium of 30 cents apiece. Call-buyers will profit if MTG’s shares surpass the breakeven price of $5.30 by expiration. Additional bullish transactions appeared in the January 2010 and March 2010 contracts. Optimistic individuals shed 3,000 puts at the January 5.0 strike for 60 cents premium apiece. Investors retain the premium received on the sale if shares remain above $5.00 through January’s expiration day. Put-sellers stand ready to have shares of the underlying stock put to them at an effective price of $4.40 per share if the puts land in-the-money. Finally, another chunk of 5,000 puts were sold at the March 5.0…
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Financial ETF Sees Sizeable Bull Call Spread
by Andrew Wilkinson - September 29th, 2009 4:19 pm
Today’s tickers: XLF, NKE, SLV, WAG, CVS, PSS, RYL & TCB
XLF - A large bullish trade just went across the tape on the Amex in the financial sector ETF in which a 50,000 lot call spread traded in the XLF at a 27 cent premium involving 17 and 19 strike calls. The underlying share price of $15.08 would need to rally 14.5% over the course of the next three months to allow this investor to break even. We make it mid-October last year that the XLF share price last popped above $17, while recent overhead resistance has restrained the bulls at $15.50. – Financial Select Sector SPDR –
NKE - Call options on the maker of footwear and apparel were in high demand today with shares of NKE up 1.8% to $60.02. Nike is schedule to release results for the first quarter after the closing bell today. Analysts are expecting the firm to report 97 cents per share on revenue of $4.9 billion. Option traders exchanged more than 17,400 calls at the October 60 strike on existing open interest at the strike of just 6,900 contracts. Approximately 8,100 of the calls were purchased for an average premium of 1.78 apiece. The October 60 strike calls have managed to land in-the-money this afternoon. However, investors long the calls will not begin to amass profits unless the stock rises another 3% to breach the breakeven point at $61.78. Another 6,050 calls were exchanged at the higher October 65 strike for an average premium of 40 cents apiece. The higher strike calls were both bought and sold by investors placing bets on Nike ahead of first-quarter earnings results. – Nike, Inc. –
SLV - One investor initiated a long-term bullish play on the silver exchange-traded fund amid a slight 0.25% dip in shares to $15.88. The trader looked to the November 16 strike to purchase 14,000 calls for an average premium of 90 cents apiece. At the same time, the investor spread the nearer-term purchase against the sale of 14,000 calls at the January 2012 20 strike for 2.80 per contract. The trader pockets a net credit of 1.90 per contract on the transaction. The investor is likely expecting the calls to land in-the-money by expiration in November. If this occurs, he may exercise the options and take delivery of the underlying shares for an effective price of $14.10 [$16.00 – 1.90 = $14.10]. If…
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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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