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Posts Tagged ‘DE’

All-Time High for Amazon has Option Traders Raising the Bar

Today’s tickers: AMZN, MU, ETH, AMR, WYN, TBT, BAC, PCS, DE, ING, RSH & BCRX

AMZN – Amazon.com, Inc. – Shares of the online retailer surged to an all-time high of $125.44 during the trading session. Investors exchanged approximately 241,000 option contracts on AMZN by 3:00 pm (EDT), which represents about 41% of the total existing open interest on the stock of 591,993 lots. Bullish investors expecting Amazon to rally even higher purchased 7,000 calls at the November 135 strike for an average premium of 1.84 apiece. Optimism spread to the higher November 140 strike where 2,800 calls were picked up for 1.05 each. Super bullish traders looked to the highest available strike price in the front month – the November 150 strike – to purchase 1,000 calls for an average premium of 31 cents per contract. Shares of Amazon.com rallied 36% to reach today’s intraday high of $125.44, climbing up from an intra-week low of $91.98 on Thursday October 22, 2009. Investors holding calls at the November 135 strike will profit by expiration if shares of AMZN gain 9% over the high of $125.44 to breach the breakeven price of $136.84. Finally, near-term put options were also in demand by investors looking to lock in gains enjoyed during Amazon’s recent run-up. Traders shelled out an average of 6.92 per contract to buy 3,100 puts at the November 125 strike.

MU – Micron Technology, Inc. – Option traders invested in April contract call options on the semiconductor manufacturer despite the 0.5% decline in shares to $7.41. It appears some 9,200 calls were purchased by MU-optimists at the April 8.0 strike for an average premium of 1.08 per contract. Call-buyers apparently expect shares to rally significantly within the next six months. Investors holding the call options will profit by expiration if shares of MU rally at least 22.5% to the breakeven point at $9.08.

ETH – Ethan Allen Interiors, Inc. – Home-furnishings retailer, Ethan Allen, experienced a more than 14% decline in shares today to $14.30 after the firm forecast a wider-than-expected loss of 21-23 cents for the first quarter. Analysts predicted an 8 cents per share loss before the firm lowered guidance last week. Long-term downside protection is in demand as traders picked up some 5,500 puts at the May 12.5 strike for an average premium of 1.76 apiece. Investors holding long positions in the underlying stock will find protection…
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Where Did All the Volatility Go?

www.interactivebrokers.com

Today’s tickers: VIX, EEM, XLU, EWT, AA, ESLR, UNH, HOT & DE

VIX– Summer’s here – you can tell by the fact that volatility is on the wane again that investors are winding down for the summer season. The market’s fear gauge has slipped back again and stands at a level not seen since last September. Today the VIX is trading at 27.45 as most investors see less need to pay higher premiums for protective strategies. Meanwhile, signs of recovery have created the impression that a market rally might feed on itself and has prompted many investors to write options recently. There hope is that as implied volatility erodes the fact that premiums will deflate would afford profits by buying those same options back later. However, the noise coming out of the Chicago Board Options Exchange today is over a July call spread using VIX options that relies on a market swan dive over the coming 41 days before it would earn profits. One trader spent an $850,000 premium on buying 20,000 July calls at the 45 strike while selling the same amount of 55 strike calls, thus lowering the overall premium to 42.5 cents. The VIX hasn’t traded above 40 since April 21 and we’re wondering what this guy knows that no one else does. – CBOE Volatility index

EEM– Shares of the emerging markets ETF have rallied more than 2.5% today to $34.47. The fund has enjoyed a nice run up over the past four months, gaining more than 72% since March 2, 2009, when shares were trading at $19.95. A trade observed in the September contract indicates that at least one investor is crossing his fingers for continued bullish movement in the stock through expiration in September. The trader targeted the now in-the-money September 34 strike price and sold 10,000 puts for 3.10 apiece in order to finance the purchase of 10,000 calls for 2.77 a pop. The investor receives a credit of 33 cents for the transaction. He will add to today’s profits if the EEM can continue to climb higher. – iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF

XLU – The utilities ETF has experienced a more than 2.5% increase in shares to $28.02. The XLU ticker symbol jumped onto our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner after one investor sunk his teeth into a chunk of put options in the September contract.
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The Deere Hunter

www.interactivebrokers.com

Today’s tickers: DE, XLF, V, PBR, HPQ, POT, XLB, RF & F

DE– The largest maker of farm equipment in the world has posted second-quarter earnings that exceeded analyst expectations as sales of agricultural machines remained strong even in the midst of global recession. Shares of the Illinois-based company have experienced a rally of more than 1.5% to $44.60 today after the earnings release. Ultra-optimistic Deere-hunters have targeted the July 50 strike price where more than 5,600 calls were purchased for an average premium of 1.78 per contract. The stock will need to rise at least 16% to the breakeven point at $51.78 in order for today’s tractor-enthusiasts to profit by expiration. Option implied volatility dropped as low as 44%, down from yesterday’s closing reading of 53%, but has since been driven back up to the current value of 48%. – Deere & Company

XLF– The financials ETF is off by more than 1% to $11.90, and as usual, has attracted a number of high-roller option investors to exchange more than 329,000 contracts on the fund today. One transaction that caught our eye occurred in the July contract. It appears that one banking sector-bear has sold 21,000 calls at the July 13 strike price for 54 cents each in order to finance the purchase of 21,000 puts at the July 11 strike for an average premium of 71 cents. The net cost of the protective puts amounts to 17 cents and yields profits to the downside beginning at any share price below the breakeven point at $10.83. The pessimistic investor would require that shares of the ETF fall another 9% from the current price so that profits from the long-put position would build by expiration. The XLF was trading below $10.70 back on the first of May and it appears that the put-buying pessimist highlighted above sees shares falling back down by expiration. – Financial Select Sector SPDR

V– Shares of the world’s most recognized global financial services brand have rallied more than 1% to $65.54. The company received a reinstated label of ‘outperform’ at Wachovia Capital Markets this morning and also enticed some bullish option traders to come out and play. Investors looking for significant gains in the stock have targeted the January 2010 80 strike price where more than 7,100 calls were bought for an average premium of 3.02 apiece. These Visa-optimists are hoping for shares to rally
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September SPDR puts active

www.interactivebrokers.com

Today’s tickers: SPY, F, DELL, SYMC, DE, FITB, ASML, SMH & UNH

SPY SPDR Trust Series – So implied volatility as measured by the fear gauge known as the VIX, the CBOE volatility index has come screaming off today after a nerve-soothing employment report. The VIX is down 2.17 points today to 31.25. The ongoing rally for equities is likely a snapback against an Armageddon-like scenario priced in to stocks throughout the first quarter. With a lessening in the economic contraction and today’s data icing the cake, investors have thrown in the towel on the bear market and have reduced demand for protection through puts. However, in the S&P index, one investor seems to feel that the rebound won’t extend beyond September and has bought a sizeable chunk of protective puts. The SPDR trades at one-tenth the value of the underlying index and today is 2.5% to the better at 93.15. Some 72,000 put options at the September contract have been purchased at the 75.0 strike for premiums anywhere between 1.84 and 2.05. Breakeven in the worst case example would be at 72.96. That would need a decline of 21.6% to come good. At some point, investors will sit around the camp fire and have a rethink after this huge counter-trend rally. What’s next?

F Ford Motor Company – The only big-three auto company in the US to remain standing without federal aid has climbed 2% to $6.20 per share today. The bullish move in shares could be due to the news that Ford may receive as much as $440 million in government loans. The money would be utilized to facilitate the conversion of a Michigan SUV (sport utility vehicle) factory to one that builds small, fuel-efficient automobiles. Ford edged onto our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner later on in the afternoon after one individual was seen getting bullish on the stock. In the January 2011 contract the trader was seen shedding 55,000 put options at the January 2.5 strike price for a premium of 80 cents apiece. The investor pockets the premium today as he does not see shares declining through $2.50 over the next year and a half. Option implied volatility on Ford is currently at 85%.

DELL Dell, Inc. – The just-in-time provider of personal computers attracted bullish options investors despite the more than 3.5% decline in shares to $10.65. Perhaps individuals looking for…
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Phil's Favorites

Containment Theory Blows Sky High: German Manufacturing PMI Plunges to 45; French Manufacturing PMI Plunges to 44.4, Sharpest Contraction in 3 Years

 

Courtesy of Mish

The Pollyannas who thought the European recession would be short, shallow, and contained to the periphery have another thing coming. All three ideas were downright silly as I have long stated.

French Manufacturing PMI Plunges to 44.4, Sharpest Contraction in 3 Years

Markit reports French private sector output falls at sharpest rate for over three years.

 Key points:
  • Flash France Composite Output Index drops to 44.7 (45.9 in April), 37-month low
  • Flash France Services Activity Index unchanged at 45.2
  • Flash France Manufacturing PMI falls to 44.4 (46.9 in April), 36-month low
  • ...


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Chart School

S&P 500 Snapshot: Another Save at the Bell

Courtesy of Doug Short.

The S&P 500 got off to weak start and, after retracing a modest morning rally, spent most of the day in the shallow red with an intraday low of 0.63%. But in the last seven minutes of trading, the index recovered enough to a make a small gain of 0.14%. This is the fourth advance, the first was Monday's 1.60 surge, but the last three have ranged from 0.05% to 0.17% with today's close near the high of the miserly three-day series.

The index is now up 5.02% for 2012, which is 6.93% off the interim closing high.

From an intermediate perspective, the S&P 500 is 95.2% above the March 2009 closing low and 15.6% below the nominal all-time high of October 2007.

Below are two charts of the index, with and without the 50 and 200-day moving averages.

 

...

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Zero Hedge

May Hedge Funds Performance Update: Red Is Bad

Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.

Submitted by Tyler Durden.

And it was shaping up to be such a good year. According to the latest just released HSBC hedge fund performance update, increasingly more funds are starting to lose it, certainly for the month, but increasingly more for the year. How many LPs will be eager to keep on paying 2% management fees (forget performance) to funds who at best are long AAPL (at least 226 of them), and at worst have underperformed the S&P, for the second year in a row, by anywhere from 5 to 15%?

Select HF performance:

...



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Option Review

Traders Take To Tiffany & Co. Options After Earnings, Guidance Disappoint

 

Today’s tickers: TIF, P & NYT

TIF - Tiffany & Co., Inc. – A surprise earnings miss and a reduced full-year profit and sales forecast from luxury jewelry retailer, Tiffany & Co., took some of the luster out of its shares today, with the stock trading down 8.5% at $56.55 as of 11:50 a.m. in New York. Options activity on Tiffany this morning suggests mixed sentiment on the st...



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Insider Scoop

RealNetworks Reaches Agreement with Washington State Attorney General

Courtesy of Benzinga.

RealNetworks, Inc. (NASDAQ: RNWK) today announced that it has reached an agreement with the Washington State Attorney General over discontinued e-commerce practices. In accordance with the settlement agreement, RealNetworks has committed to:

Discontinuing the use of pre-checked boxes for purchases of RealNetworks subscription products; Spelling out more clearly the material terms of RealNetworks product offerings; Offering online cancellation of subscription offerings; Enhancing RealNetworks customer support guidelines regarding cancellation. Statement from Thomas Nielsen, President & CEO of RealNetworks:

"About two years ago, the Washington State Attorney General's Office contacted us regarding concerns they had with some of our e-commerce practices.

"While we disagree wit...



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All About Trends

Mid-Day Update

Reminder: David is available to chat with Members, comments are found below each post.

Click here for the full report.




To learn more, sign up for David's free newsletter and receive the free report from All About Trends - "How To Outperform 90% Of Wall Street With Just $500 A Week." Tell David PSW sent you. - Ilene...

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Market Montage

Chinese, European Data Continues to Weaken as Market Potentially Forming New Bear Flag

Submitted by Mark Hanna

Courtesy of MarketMontage. View original post here.

First we'll go to the technicals.  Back in mid April I had opined a 'bear flag' formation was being created. [Apr 17, 2012: Potential Bear Flag Forming]  But the market being the difficult beast it is, head faked everyone and rather than a break down from said flag it first went UP and nearly touched yearly highs.  This caused everyone to think the bear flag had failed…. only to lead to a horrid May in the market.  Generally a bear flag will resolve relatively quickly but the longer...



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Sabrient

Sector Detector: New “Grecian Formula” is making us all gray

Reminder: Sabrient is available to chat with Members, comments are found below each post.

Courtesy of Scott Martindale, Sabrient Systems and Gradient Analytics

Despite the fact that U.S. equities are well-positioned and well-supported to go up, once again it is the headlines out of Europe—especially Greece—that are scaring off investors. Some are saying that it is now likely (and even desirable) that Greece will default on all its sovereign debt, withdraw from the euro, and severely devalue its domestic currency (Drachma?). This will allow them to operate a balanced budget while pumping cash into growth initiatives, rather than suffer the ravages of Germany-mandated austerity.

Some say, so what? Greece makes up only about 2% of the Eurozone’s overall economy. Nevertheless, you might say that t...



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ETF Selector

Markets Die Then Flatten…Again (SPY, DIA, QQQ, IWM, FB)

Courtesy of John Nyaradi.

Markets died and then rallied to flat again as European leaders “prepared contingencies” for a possible Grexit

Markets died hard and fast earlier today as major indexes registered as much as 1.5% of losses after news that Euro zone officials were unofficially “preparing contingencies” for a Greek exit from the Euro.  Unofficial statements were not enough to keep markets down however, as major indexes rallied back to flat levels by the end of the day.

So the world continues to wait on Europe, as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEACA:SPY) gained .05%, the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSEARCA:...



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OpTrader

Swing trading portfolio - week of May 21st, 2012

Reminder: OpTrader is available to chat with Members, comments are found below each post.

This post is for all our live virtual trade ideas and daily comments. Please click on "comments" below to follow our live discussion. All of our current  trades are listed in the spreadsheet below, with entry price (1/2 in and All in), and exit prices (1/3 out, 2/3 out, and All out).

We also indicate our stop, which is most of the time the "5 day moving average". All trades, unless indicated, are front-month ATM options. 

Please feel free to participate in the discussion and ask any questions you might have about this virtual portfolio, by clicking on the "comments" link right below.

To learn more about the swing trading virtual portfolio (strategy, performance, FAQ, etc.), please click here

Optrader 

...

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Stock World Weekly

Stock World Weekly: Test Issue

NEW: Ilene is available to chat with Members regarding topics presented in SWW, comments are found below each post.

Here is this week's test version of the latest newsletter. We apologize for some formatting issues that need to be worked out. Please tell us what you think. 

Click on Stock World Weekly here, and sign in/sign up.

...

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Pharmboy

Big Pharma - Where Are We Now?

Reminder: Pharmboy is available to chat with Members, comments are found below each post.

In this article, please revisit an article written two years ago titled, "The Calm Before the Storm."  This article focused on the patent cliff that was looming in the pharmaceutical industry, that was later picked up by the New York Times and several other bloggers!  Subsequent articles were written about big pharma company's revenue streams, and the pros and cons of of their later stage pipelines.  Other articles have also attempted to identify smaller biotechs with the potential to reap big reward...



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IRA Strategy/Income Trader

Weekend Virtual Portfolio Update 2/26/2012

My last weekend update is dated from January 30 so after a long hiatus, here is an update of our virtual portfolio. Since the last update, we have closed the AA Money portfolio due to a lack of enthusiasm (and activity) and I have stopped tracking the FAS strangle as the low VIX makes it hard to get rewarded for the risk! But we have added a small $5KP virtual portfolio which does not use any margin. FAS Money We have had to recover from a big move up by FAS and a low VIX which keeps option prices low. But the portfolio has gaine about 10% since the last update. Last update P&L - $5499.00 IWM Money Not a lot of activity in this portfolio where the main focus is on the large IWM BCS. But the portfolio has grown over 20% since the last update. Last update P&L - $1998.00 $5KP Portfolio This is the virtual portfolio that replaced the AA Money portfolio. It does not use margin and we will keep holdings under $5K. AAPL $50K P...

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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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