Apple Shares Reach New 52-Week High Ahead of iPad Release
by Andrew Wilkinson - March 29th, 2010 4:06 pm
Today’s tickers: AAPL, GDXJ, CEPH, LO, MHK, VRTX & MJN
AAPL – Apple, Inc. – Shares of the iPhone and iPod maker rallied to a new 52-week high of 233.87 in morning trading with just five days remaining before the firm’s newest product, the iPad, hits retail stores across the U.S. Bullish options trading patterns on the stock today indicate optimistic sentiment on Apple ahead of the iPad’s release on Saturday morning. One investor enacted a bullish put credit spread in the May contract in order to benefit from continued strength in the price of Apple’s shares through expiration. It looks like approximately 10,000 puts were shed at the May $210 strike for an average premium of $3.46 per contract, marked against the purchase of about the same number of puts at the lower May $200 strike for $1.95 each. The investor responsible for the spread pockets a net credit of $1.51 per contract, which he keeps in full as long as Apple’s shares trade above $210.00 through May expiration. Maximum potential losses faced by the trader amount to $8.49 per contract should shares of the underlying stock plummet 14.5% to $200.00 ahead of expiration day in May.
GDXJ – Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF – The GDXJ, which is an exchange-traded fund that seeks to replicate the price and yield performance of the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners Index, realized a 1.25% appreciation in the value of its underlying share price to $25.82 today. The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners Index tracks the overall performance of foreign and domestic publicly traded companies of small/medium-capitalization that primarily engage in gold and/or silver mining. Despite the move higher in shares today, one options trader initiated a bearish debit put spread in the May contract. It appears the investor purchased 10,000 in-the-money puts at the May $26 strike for a premium of $1.65 apiece and sold the same number of puts at the lower May $23 strike for $0.52 each. The net cost of the put spread amounts to $1.13 per contract. If the investor responsible for the trade holds no underlying share position, maximum potential profits of $1.87 per contract are available if shares slip to $23.00 by expiration day in May. However, the trader may be buying the spread to protect the value of an existing underlying share position, in which case protection kicks in beneath the breakeven share…
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Gloomy Put Options Posturing on Financials ETF
by Andrew Wilkinson - November 2nd, 2009 4:06 pm
Today’s tickers: XLF, ETFC, CF, HGSI, EEM, BEBE, SMH, VRTX, HGSI, F & LDK
XLF – Financial Select Sector SPDR – A large bearish spread in the June 2010 contract suggests one investor feels the need for downside protection through expiration. Shares are slightly up this afternoon by about 0.25% to $14.09. The trader purchased 20,000 put options at the June 14 strike for an average premium of 1.91 apiece. He financed the long position by selling 20,000 puts at the June 11 strike for 74 cents each, and by selling another 20,000 puts at the lower June 10 strike for 51 cents premium. The net cost of the transaction amounts to 66 cents per contract. The investor responsible for the three-legged spread is possibly holding a long stock position in the XLF. The put options might then serve to protect the value of the position in the event that shares decline beneath the effective breakeven point at $13.34 by expiration. The fact that the trader is short two times as many puts indicates this investor expects a pullback but not a collapse beneath the lower strike price of $10.00.
ETFC – E*Trade Financial Corp. – The Wall Street Journal reported that ETFC withdrew its application for funding through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) because the company’s “recent capital-raising and debt-reduction efforts negates the need for the money.” E*Trade raised $150 million by selling stock in the third quarter out of some $765 million of sold stock this year. The seemingly bullish news that the company no longer plans to participate in the capital-purchase program did not do much for the current share price, which slipped 6% lower to $1.37. Our scanners picked up on interesting options activity this afternoon that may or may not have been inspired by today’s news. It appears 95,000 put options sold at the January 1.0 strike for about 5.5 pennies apiece. One may infer the transaction represents bullish sentiment on ETFC if the sale of the put options is fresh activity. If this is the case, the trader pockets the 5.5 cents premium, and expects shares to remain above $1.00 through expiration. However, the sale could also be the work of an investor closing out a long put position given the already high reading of open interest at the small number of available strike prices.
CF – CF Industries Holdings, Inc. – The…
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Pre-tense
by Phil - June 4th, 2009 5:29 pm
Today’s tickers: PALM, AA, UNG, FXI, IYR, YGE, VRTX & XLF
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Option trader predicts natural gas set to rally into next heating season
by Andrew Wilkinson - May 15th, 2009 6:08 am
Today’s tickers: UNG, HIG, XLF, XRT, CLF, WFMI & VRTX
UNG– Shares of the natural gas fund have rallied by more than 1% to stand at $16.66. We observed some bullish call buying on the ETF by one investor looking for natural gas prices to heat up as we head into the beginning of ‘heating season’ in October. It appears that this individual looked to the October 20 strike price and purchased 26,000 calls for an average premium of 1.45 apiece. The 31,000 call options traded at the October 20 strike today is more than five times the existing open interest at the strike of just 6,834 lots. With a breakeven point of $21.45 on the trade, the investor is hoping to see shares of UNG rally by a minimum of 29% from the current price so he may begin to garner profits to the upside. – United States Natural Gas ETF
HIG– Investors in the insurance and financial services firm have witnessed HIG’s shares surge more than 21% today to the current price of $15.23. While a mass of more than 120,000 option contracts exchanged hands on the stock throughout the trading day, our attention was drawn to a couple of bullish plays. Traders who expect the stock to retain gains into next month looked to the June 16 strike price and purchased some 4,000 calls for an average premium of 1.20 each. Investors will breakeven at a price of $17.20 by expiration. Uber-bullishness was observed at the September 25 strike where about 4,400 calls appear to have been purchased for a premium of 91 cents per contract. These call-buyers have thrown a Hail Mary pass today, but they will have to wait to see whether it will be received in the end zone or whether it will fall short by expiration. To profit from the long-call position, shares will need to rally with a vengeance by about 70% through the breakeven point at $25.91. Option implied volatility has climbed throughout the week from 112% on Monday to the current reading of 144%. – Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.
XLF– The financials ETF, a daily presence on our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner, has enjoyed a more than 3.5% rally to $11.80 amid broad gains enjoyed by financial firms today. While more than 250,000 option contracts were traded on the fund, we focused in on one…
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Microsoft options looking bullish
by Andrew Wilkinson - April 14th, 2009 4:12 pm
Today’s tickers: MSFT, XLF, VRTX, X, MT, TIF, JCG & AIG
MSFT Microsoft Corporation – Some option traders laughed in the face of a 2% decline in MSFT’s shares and were seen making some bullish plays on the stock which currently stands at $19.16. One trade of note was the sale of 5,000 puts at the July 17 strike price for a premium of 90 cents apiece spread against the purchase of 5,000 calls at the July 22 strike price for 74 cents each. This optimistic investor accepts a 16 cent credit on the trade and appears to be looking for shares to rally by about 19% through the breakeven point at $22.74 by expiration. Other bullish investors selected the July 23 strike price where more than 11,000 calls were purchased for an average premium of 44 cents per contract.
XLF Financial Select Sector SPDR – Shares of the XLF have plunged more than 5% to $10.50 today. However, we observed one options investor looking for a recovery in financials by September’s expiry. The financials ETF was one of the top tickers on our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner with more than 406,000 contracts traded throughout the day. The trade we chose to highlight involved the purchase of 20,000 puts at the September 8.0 strike price for 80 cents apiece spread against the sale of 10,000 puts sold for a premium of 2.79 per contract. This ratio spread yields a credit of 1.19 to the trader (2.79*1 – 0.80*2 = 1.19). The investor will retain the full credit if shares rise through $12.00 by expiration in September. The purchase of twice as many puts at the lower 8.0 strike price serves to cap the investor’s losses at a maximum of 2.81 should shares continue to fall all the way to $8.00 by expiration.
VRTX Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – The pharmaceuticals company has seen its shares give back gains experienced earlier in the trading day, and is currently off by less than 1% to stand at $27.10. Option implied volatility has jumped from 72% yesterday to the current value of 82% amid unconfirmed rumors reported by one source that Johnson & Johnson may be eyeing VRTX. Option traders took bullish stances on the company by purchasing calls in the April and May contracts. The in-the-money April 25 strike price had 1,100 calls bought for 3.27 apiece, while the April…
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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
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