Put Sellers See Bright Future for Ford Shares in 2011
by Andrew Wilkinson - December 9th, 2010 4:54 pm
Today’s tickers: F, MSFT, ZQK, LULU, EK, CNO & SFD
F - Ford Motor Co. – The automaker’s shares are up 0.55% at $16.78 heading into the close this afternoon after earlier rising as much as 0.95% to an intraday high of $16.85. Bullish options traders expecting Ford’s shares to continue to rally higher over the next six months sold in-the-money put options in the June 2011 contract today. Bank of America/Merrill Lynch reiterated their ‘buy’ rating on the stock, upped their target share price on Ford Motor Co. to $24.00 from $20.00, and revised higher earnings estimates for 2011 and 2012 for the automaker. Optimistic options investors looked to the June 2011 $17 strike to sell some 16,000 in-the-money puts to receive premium of $1.92 per contract. Put sellers keep the hefty chunk of change received on the transaction as long as Ford’s shares exceed $17.00 ahead of expiration day next year. The sale of the contracts suggests traders are more than happy to have shares of the underlying stock put to them at an effective price of $15.08 each should shares fail to rally sufficiently, and the put options trade in-the-money at expiration.
MSFT - Microsoft Corp. – Bullish risk reversals initiated using Microsoft call and put options expiring in July 2011 are signs of investor optimism on the software company. Microsoft’s shares started out the session in the black but have slipped lower in the final hour of trading, losing 0.70% to stand at $27.04 as of 3:10 pm. One options strategist is positioning for shares in MSFT to rebound sharply ahead of July expiration by selling a total of 15,000 puts at the July 2011 $23 strike for a premium of $0.83 each, in order to buy the same number of calls at the higher July 2011 $30 strike at a premium of $0.97 apiece. The net cost of the risk reversal amounts to $0.14 per contract, providing relatively cheap upside exposure should Microsoft’s shares take off in 2011. Shares of the…
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Dell Call Options Active in Afternoon Trading
by Phil - October 12th, 2010 5:45 pm
Today’s tickers: DELL, AGU, EEM, GERN, SPY, IP, SFD & CHS
DELL - Dell, Inc. – Speculation that Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO of Dell, Inc., may buy the computer company or pay a special dividend lifted shares of the world’s third-largest PC maker this afternoon and spurred demand for out-of-the-money call options. Dell’s shares rallied nearly 3.00% today to touch an intraday high of $14.14, but are currently up 1.50% at $13.94 as of 3:05 p.m. Options traders honed in on October $14 strike calls, exchanging more than 23,100 of those contracts by 3:00 p.m., versus previously existing open interest of 10,783 calls at that strike. It looks like roughly 11,800 of those call options were purchased at an average premium of $0.21 a-pop. Call buyers make money if Dell’s shares exceed the average breakeven price of $14.21 by October expiration on Friday. Other optimistic signaling on the stock involved the sale of some 2,100 in-the-money puts at the October $14 strike where investors received an average premium of $0.34 per contract. Options implied volatility is up 15.2% to stand at 41.52% with less than one hour remaining before the final bell.
AGU - Agrium, Inc. – Shares of Canada’s second-largest fertilizer producer rallied as much as 3.2% today to reign in an intraday high of $85.66 after corn futures jumped to a near two-year high. Agrium was upgraded to ‘sector outperformer’ from ‘sector performer’ at CIBC World Markets where analysts upped their target share price on the company to $100.00 from $70.00. One options trader was prepared for the bullish move in the Agrium’s shares and opted to book profits, as well as extend optimism on the stock in the November contract. It looks like the investor purchased 10,000 calls at the November $85 strike for an average premium…
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Citi-Bull Sheds Just Under a Quarter Million Put Options
by Andrew Wilkinson - March 18th, 2010 4:21 pm
Today’s tickers: C, ERTS, ATVI, DNDN, HIG, DD, RCL, SFD & AMR
C – Citigroup, Inc. – One investor established a mammoth bullish stance on Citigroup in the first 20 minutes of the current trading session. Citigroup’s shares at the time of the transaction were trading at approximately $4.05, but have since slipped lower and are down 0.50% to $4.03 as of 2:45 pm (ET). It looks like the Citi-bull sold 240,000 put options outright at the April $4.0 strike to take in a premium of $0.16 per contract. Premium received on the sale, which represents maximum potential profits, amounts to $3.840 million to the investor if Citigroup’s shares trade above $4.00 through expiration day. The short stance in put options implies the investor is willing to have 24 million shares of the underlying stock put to him at an effective price of $3.84 each should the puts land in-the-money at expiration.
ERTS – Electronic Arts, Inc. – An enormous bullish debit call spread purchased on video game software publishing company, Electronic Arts, Inc., indicates one big options investor is expecting shares of the underlying stock to rally sharply ahead of expiration in January 2011. Electronic Arts’ shares are up 2.40% this afternoon to $18.57. The options player purchased approximately 61,000 call options at the January 2011 $25 strike for an average premium of $0.60 apiece, and sold roughly the same number of contracts at the higher January 2011 $30 strike for $0.14 each. The net cost of the spread amounts to $0.46 per contract, thus yielding maximum potential profits of $4.54 apiece if shares surge through $30.00 by expiration day next year. ERTS shares must increase at least 37% from the current price in order for the investor to break even on the trade at $25.46. Maximum profit acquisition of $4.54 per contract, or total gains of $27.694 million, requires a 61.55% rally in shares to $30.00 by January expiration. The 122,000 call options utilized in the transaction represent a staggering 44.58% of total existing open interest on the stock of 273,639 contracts.
ATVI – Activision Blizzard, Inc. – The producer of online, console and hand-held games received a vote of confidence by one large options player anticipating bullish movement in the price of its shares through expiration in January 2011. Activision’s shares rallied 2.12% to $12.05 in the first half of the trading session. The optimistic investor established…
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Japanese ETF Options Active (After Philstockworld’s Thursday Pick)
by Andrew Wilkinson - December 11th, 2009 5:29 pm
Today’s tickers: EWJ, RX, UUP, DRI, IMAX, SFD & AET
EWJ – iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund – Shares of the Japan exchange-traded fund rose 0.3% today to $9.92. The roughly 125,000 contracts exchanged on the fund today is likely the work of one investor adjusting previously established positions. The trader may be unraveling a portion of a bearish risk reversal established back in late-September. It appears 62,500 puts were sold at the March 10 strike for 53 cents apiece, spread against the purchase of the same number of calls at the January 2011 12 strike for 24 cents premium each. The technically bullish direction of the risk reversal play is possibly a closing transaction given the large levels of existing open interest at each strike described above.
RX – IMS Health, Inc. – Shares of the provider of prescription information to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries plummeted 14% to $18.34 at the start of the trading session. The stock collapsed on news senate democrats proposed an amendment to restrict data-mining practices. Investor uncertainty, as measured by option implied volatility, exploded today on fears the proposed ban may hurt RX’s recent $5.2 billion sale to TPG Inc. and the CPP Investment Board. IMS Health’s shares recovered significantly by midday (EDT) with the stock down a lesser 7.5% to $19.77. Frenzied option traders vied for both calls and puts in the December and January contracts. Investors exchanged nearly 100,000 contracts on the stock in the first three hours of the trading day. Today’s volume blew right past the previous existing open interest on RX of 73,386 contracts. Heavy trading volume and rising investor uncertainty launched option implied volatility up as much as 401.72% to a one-year high of 70.55%. Some traders appear to be selling call options to buy puts in the December contract, while other investors initiated plain-vanilla put buying strategies. Bearish individuals shed more than 6,000 calls at the December 20 strike for an average premium of 46 cents apiece. Traders keep the premium received on the sale if shares of RX remain below $20.00 through expiration. Put buyers favored the December 17.5 strike where roughly 10,000 puts were picked up for about 46 cents each. Some of the puts were spread against the sale of higher strike call options, while other contracts were purchased outright. Roughly 5,000 puts were purchased at the lower December 15 strike where investors…
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Wells Fargo Put Spreaders Back in Town
by Andrew Wilkinson - November 11th, 2009 4:27 pm
Today’s tickers: WFC, AMR, PG, DRYS, DTV, M, EMC, WYNN, TOL & SFD
WFC – Wells Fargo & Co. – A popular option strategy frequently employed on Wells Fargo, the ratio put spread, appeared once again in the January 2010 contract. The bearish play was initiated despite the more than 2% rally in shares during the trading session to $28.75. The ratio spread involved the purchase of 7,500 puts at the January 27.5 strike for an average premium of 1.60 apiece, marked against the sale of 15,000 puts at the lower January 24 strike for 67 cents each. The net cost of the protective play amounts to 26 cents per contract. Thus, downside protection will kick in if shares decline beneath the breakeven price of $27.24 by expiration in January.
AMR – AMR Corp. – American Airlines operator, AMR Corp., attracted a large bullish play by one investor targeting the January 2010 contract. Shares of AMR are up more than 4% to $5.83 with just under one hour remaining in the trading day. An AMR-optimist initiated a call spread by purchasing 15,000 calls at the January 7.5 strike for an average premium of 35 cents each, marked against the sale of 15,000 calls at the higher January 9.0 strike for 10 cents premium apiece. The net cost of the bullish transaction amounts to 25 cents per contract. Profits are available to the call-spreader if shares of AMR rally at least 33% to breach the breakeven point at $7.75 by expiration. Maximum potential profits of 1.25 per contract for a total of $1.875 million are attained by the trader if shares surge 54% to $9.00.
PG – The Proctor & Gamble Co. – Options activity in the January 2011 contract on the consumer products company today indicates one investor expects little fluctuation in shares over the next 14 months. Shares of PG are slightly up by less than 0.25% to stand at $61.90. The trader initiated a sold strangle by selling 2,000 puts at the January 60 strike for 5.73 each, and by selling 2,000 calls at the higher January 65 strike for a premium of 3.82 apiece. The gross premium pocketed on the sale amounts to 9.55 per contract. The strangle-seller retains the full premium if shares of PG remain ‘strangled’ within the parameters of the strike prices described. The investor will benefit from lower option implied volatility on the…
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Smithfield bulls like hogs
by Andrew Wilkinson - April 22nd, 2009 5:01 pm
Today’s tickers: SFD, LTD, XLF, HNT, AIG, KEY, WMB & CSX
SFD Smithfield Foods, Inc. – Shares of the hog producer, pork processor, and beef processor have surged upwards by 6% to $10.50. Analysts in recent weeks used high feed prices and sluggish sales as reason enough to slash targets on food-producing companies, while there had also been concern on Smithfield’s ability to meet some forthcoming debt covenants. Corn prices have eased from $4.18 to $3.82 per bushel since the start of the month. Pork sales are also sensitive to the economy’s fortunes and sales have eased as consumers switch to cheaper grain-based foodstuffs and so perhaps today’s rally is based on expectations of a return to traditional consumption habits. Option investors crowded into the call-corral hoping that shares would continue to rise through expiration in June. The May 12.5 strike price had more than 7,200 calls purchased for 34 cents per contract while the June 12.5 strike witnessed some 2,300 calls coveted for 89 cents apiece. In order for these calls to land in-the-money, shares would need to continue to climb by another 19% from the current price. Option implied volatility has spiked to 102% from the value recorded at the start of the traded day of 77%.
LTD Limited Brands, Inc. – The specialty retailer of such brands as Victoria’s Secret and Henri Bendel has experienced a share price rally of 2% to stand at $10.88. LTD edged onto our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner after one investor picked up a hefty chunk of puts in the August contract. Perhaps this bearish investor expects retailers to struggle through the summer months as consumers exchange their rally-caps for thrift-caps. This trader purchased 17,800 puts at the August 10 strike price for a premium of 1.25 per put option. It is possible that this trader is long the stock and is therefore utilizing the put options as downside protection should shares relapse over the next six months. The puts would begin to yield profits if shares were to decline by expiration, beginning at the breakeven share price of $8.75.
XLF Financial Select Sector SPDR – Shares of the financials ETF are slightly higher today by about 0.5% to $10.65. As usual, the fund was one of the top tickers on our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner. One interesting trade we observed took place in the September…
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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
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