Gold Mminers ETF Attracts Bullish Option Plays
by Andrew Wilkinson - November 10th, 2009 5:08 pm
Today’s tickers: GDX, CF, S, XHB, PCLN, XLF, CX, CAR, BZH, CRI & ERTS
GDX - Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF – Shares of the gold ETF that invests in shares of precious metals mining companies are up 0.5% to $49.53 with one hour remaining in the trading session. Option implied volatility has come down from 54% to 46% recently as gold’s price has surged. Nearer-term investors sought downside protection on the fund, whereas long-term traders initiated bullish plays. Investors hoping to lock in gains experienced during the recent run-up in the price of gold purchased 4,000 puts at the January 2010 47 strike for 3.05 apiece. Further along, at the March 2010 44 strike, another 6,000 puts were picked up for an average premium of 3.10 per contract. Finally, long-term bullishness took the form of a call spread in the January 2011 contract. It appears one investor purchased about 5,000 calls at the January 50 strike for an average of 9.52 each, marked against the sale of the same number of calls at the higher January 55 strike for 7.55 each. The net cost of the optimistic play amounts to 1.97 per contract. The trader stands to accrue maximum potential profits of 3.03 each if shares of GDX rally 11% over the current price to $55.00 by expiration in January 2011.
CF - CF Industries Holdings, Inc. – Bearish option plays appeared on the manufacturer of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer products today after the firm rejected rival Agrium Inc.’s increased takeover offer of $4.52 billion. Shares of CF are currently trading 4% lower to $77.20. Investors purchased put options at the now in-the-money December 80 strike for an average premium of 6.70 apiece. Perhaps put-buyers are protecting long stock positions. Otherwise, they are hoping to accrue profits if shares of CF decline through the effective breakeven price of $73.30. Another trader unraveled a previously established bullish play in the January 2010 contract. The investor originally placed an extremely bullish 8,500-lot call spread at the January 90/100 strikes. However, the trader abandoned bullish sentiment today by closing out the spread. Option implied volatility on CF jumped 7.5% over Monday’s closing value of 52.9% to reach an intraday high of 55.9%.
S - Sprint Nextel Corp. – Shares of the wireless communications company surrendered a portion of gains experienced during yesterday’s 20% rally to an intraday high of $3.43. The stock rebounded due to news that Clearwire…
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Cemex Share Issue Has Bears Target Option Risk-Reversals
by Andrew Wilkinson - September 22nd, 2009 4:31 pm
Today’s tickers: CX, RIMM, FCX, LAVA, XLF, M, MBI, JDSU & SHPGY
CX - The Mexican cement company’s shares have edged slightly lower by less than 0.5% to $13.04 this afternoon due to the firm’s plan to issue stock to pay down debt. Option traders have braced for further declines by employing bearish risk reversals in the October contract. It appears investors shed 6,500 calls at the October 14 strike for 43 cents apiece in order to partially finance the purchase of 6,500 puts at the lower October 12 strike for 45 cents each. The net cost of picking up protective put options is reduced to just 2 pennies per contract. If traders are long the underlying stock, downside protection will kick in if shares slip beneath the breakeven point at $12.98 by expiration next month. – Cemex SAB de CV –
RIMM - Blackberry producer, Research in Motion, attracted bullish investors who initiated call spreads on the stock today. Shares are slightly higher by less than 0.25% to stand at the current price of $84.25. One investor targeted the November contract where it appears put options were sold to offset the cost of purchasing a call spread. The spread involved the purchase of 6,000 calls at the November 105 strike for 1.28 each against the sale of 6,000 calls at the higher November 120 strike for 33 cents per contract. Finally, the November 70 strike had 6,000 puts shed for an average premium of 1.87 apiece. The investor receives a net 91 cent credit on the three-legged strategy. He will retain the full premium as long as shares of RIMM remain higher than $70.00 by expiration day. Additional profits are available to the trader if the stock surges 25% from the current price to breach the $105.00 level. Maximum potential profits of 15.00 per contract would be attained if Research in Motion skyrocketed 42% to $120.00. Another trader put on a ratio call spread in the January contract. The bullish trade was established through the purchase of 1,500 calls at the January 90 strike for 6.81 spread against the sale of 3,000 calls at the higher January 115 strike for a premium of 1.42 apiece. The net cost of the transaction amounts to 3.97 per contract. The investor will begin to garner profits if shares rise through the breakeven point at $93.97 by January’s expiration. – Research in Motion Limited –
FCX -…
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Cablevision Systems sees volatility boost after revenue gains
by Andrew Wilkinson - May 7th, 2009 4:21 pm
Today’s tickers: CVC, CX, ALL & VALE
CVC Cablevision Systems Corporation – Shares of the cable operator have climbed by more than 2.5% to $18.84 after reporting that first-quarter revenue increased by 10.6% to $1.903 billion. We observed bullish activity on the stock by investors looking for continued upward movement in share price. The May 20 strike had some 4,900 calls coveted for an average premium of 97 cents apiece. Further up at the May 22.5 strike price, about 1,300 calls were bought for 29 cents per contract. Finally, individuals looking for near-term downside protection targeted the May 15 strike price to pick up about 1,400 put options for an average premium of 22 cents each. Option implied volatility on the stock surged from 53% at the start of the trading day up to as high as 71% before dropping of a bit to the current value of 69%.
CX Cemex SAB de CV ADS – The provider of ready-mix cement and other construction materials has declined by more than 3.5% to $10.00. One bearish investor sees shares continuing to decline in the medium-term and today established a ratio credit spread in the July contract in the magnitude of two-to-three. It appears that he sold 17,500 calls at the July 7.5 strike price for a premium of 3.30 apiece and simultaneously purchased 24,500 calls at the July 10 strike for 1.65 each. The investor retains the credit as long as shares remain below $10.00 by expiration. Since he is long more calls at the July 10 strike than he is short at the July 7.5 strike, should shares rally hard the position will effectively leave him long of calls. Thus, if shares should rally rather than fall by expiration, he would begin to profit on the upside on the 7,000 lot call position.
ALL The Allstate Corporation – The insurance giant’s shares have jumped more than 8.5% to $28.00 ahead of its first-quarter earnings report set for release after the market closes this evening. The bullish rise in shares is on the heels of stronger than expected earnings reported by its competitor, Prudential (PRU). ALL leapt onto our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner after one investor initiated a large-volume calendar spread. It appears that the individual sold 30,000 calls at the October 35 strike price for 1.35 in order to finance the purchase of 30,000 now in-the-money calls at the near-term May 27.5…
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PNC Short Sellers Wade In
by Andrew Wilkinson - March 6th, 2009 11:34 pm
Today’s tickers: PNC, GT, ROH, WMT, CX, PG & XLF
PNC – PNC Financial Services Group – Shares have fallen over 12% to $17.60 and put action today indicates that there may be more down-days to come. At the March 15 strike price nearly 14,000 puts were sold for an average premium of 1.78 per contract. We believe this sale could be the work of an investor who is short the stock initiating a covered put strategy. By taking in the premium today, this investor stands ready to take delivery of the shares at $15 come expiration. The risk to this trader is that shares are remain stable above the strike ahead of delivery and thereafter rebound, in which case he has to buy back at some point. But, the trade would yield a satisfactory outcome if shares continue to fall below $15 by expiration in which case the investor has his short position alleviated with a long put holder putting the stock to him. In the meantime this investor retains the full premium of 1.78. At the April 10 strike price, more typical put buying was seen given the fall in shares today. Over 5,500 puts were picked up for about 1.65 apiece, indicating that investors do expect that shares will continue to fall.
GT – The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company – A victim of the decline in auto sales, Goodyear has fallen 4.5% to a new 52-week low, touching down at $3.40 today. Despite the depressing news plaguing the auto industry from all sides, one option investor sees the world through rose-tinted shades and initiated to purchase of 20,000 calls at the January 2010 7.5 strike price for 50 cents per contract. Shares will need to rally like there’s no tomorrow and increase by 135% in order to breach the breakeven share price of $8.00 by expiration next year. Option implied volatility for GT currently stands at 128%. Lately we have noticed similar structured trades using optimistic options plays in both Ford and GM.
ROH – Rohm and Haas Company – Shares have jumped over 17% to $63.60 amid news that discussions over merger resolution have resumed between ROH and Dow Chemical Co. We can only speculate as to how the discussion will turn out and scant information is available at the present time. The uncertainty has created a veritable hot bed of frenzied trading among option traders whose speculation now surrounds what…
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Patient XLF optimist targets January 2011 combination
by Andrew Wilkinson - March 5th, 2009 6:21 pm
Today’s tickers: XLF, DUK, DOW, GE, CX, GME, SEPR & ADBE
XLF – Financial Select Sector SPDR – Helping pummel the S&P index and continuing to sour the tone today is a 9.5% slump in the financial select sector ETF, which is now trading at $6.22 and as if we need to mention it, that’s a fresh lifetime low. In the front March contract there is heavy call volume at the 8.0 and 9.0 strikes, both trading to bid and ask illuminating a decidedly mixed picture. Catching our eye at the January 2011 strike is a curious bullish combination in which an investor appears to have created a ratio put spread at the 4.0 and 5.0 strikes in which twice as many puts were sold at the lower strike. Some 10,000 puts were sold at a premium of 96 cents while 5,000 were bought at the 5.0 strike for 1.51. The net premium creates downside losses starting at $3.45. The other leg of the trade appears much higher up on the call side where some 5,000 calls were paid for at the 20 line with a 21 cent premium. We’re assuming that this investor is pitching camp in the 2011 contract to help weather the financial storm in hopes that sunny days will prevail after the clouds dissipate leaving him well positioned for the inevitable rebound.
DUK – Duke Energy Corporation – The energy company experienced a 3% decline to $12.06, but did not deter bullish action by one investor in the April contract. At the 12.5 strike price, over 18,000 calls were purchased for an average price of 53 cents apiece. Perhaps this trader was taking advantage of falling call premiums given today’s share price decline. In order to profit from the trade shares will need to rally by 8% to the breakeven price of $13.03. Option implied volatility has surged from 37% earlier in the day to the present reading of 49.5%.
DOW – Dow Chemical Co. – Shares of the chemical manufacturer have declined 6.5% to $6.60, reaching a new 52-week low for the stock. We observed bearish option trades in play, the largest of which occurred at the March 5.0 strike price where 20,500 puts were purchased for 34 cents each. This investor is likely buying protection from further downside movement in shares, and it is likely that he is long the stock. The bearish picture continues into April where we saw…
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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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