Jobs Report Drives Heavy Trading Traffic In Ford, General Motors Options
by Option Review - February 3rd, 2012 1:42 pm
Today’s tickers: F, GM, MAS & GILD
Options commentary to resume on Thursday February 9th.
F - Ford Motor Co. – The better-than-expected jobs number out this morning revved up investor appetite for automobile stocks, driving shares in Ford Motor Co. up 4.0% to $12.75. Call options on the U.S. automaker are flying off the shelves, with nearly 5 calls in play on the stock for each single put option traded. The single-largest transaction in Ford options appears to be a bull call spread that yields maximum possible profits if the price of the underlying rallies nearly 20.0% during the next few months to expiration. It looks like one trader purchased a 30,000-lot April $14/$15 call spread for a net premium of $0.15 per contract. The position may be profitable at expiration if shares in Ford Motor Co. climb 11.0% to surpass the effective breakeven price of $14.15. Maximum potential profits of $0.85 per contract are available on the spread should shares in the auto manufacturer surge 17.6% to exceed $15.00 by expiration. Overall options volume on Ford is up above 175,000 contracts just before 1:00 p.m. ET.
GM - General Motors Co. – GM’s shares are outperforming fellow U.S. automaker, Ford Motor Co., this afternoon, with the stock trading 8.4% higher on the session at $26.35 as of 12:55 p.m. in New York. Optimism spurred by this morning’s stronger-than-expected jobs report was followed by greater-than-usual options action in the name. A debit put spread in the March expiry, which may be an outright bearish bet…
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn 
del.icio.us
DiggRatio Put Spread Pops Up On Safeway
by Option Review - January 19th, 2012 2:46 pm
Today’s tickers: SWY, GM & PGR
SWY - Safeway Inc. – The North American retailer of groceries and consumer products reports fourth-quarter earnings five weeks from today, and it appears one options player may be locking in gains in Safeway’s shares should investors lose their appetite for the stock following the report. Shares today rose 1.25% to a six-month high of $21.82, on the heels of a more than 35.0% rally since the end of September. The largest transaction in Safeway options today was the one-by-two ratio put spread initiated in the March expiry in the first half of the trading session. It looks like the investor responsible for the spread purchased 4,100 in-the-money puts at the Mar. $22 strike for a premium of $1.09 each and sold 8,200 puts at the lower Mar. $20 strike at a premium of $0.37 apiece. Net premium required to establish the trade amounts to $0.35 per contract. The sale of twice as many lower-strike put options greatly reduces the cost of the directional play and suggests the investor expects limited bearish movement in the price of the underlying rather than a nosedive in the next couple of months. Profits – or downside protection – kick in if shares in Safeway decline 0.80% to breach the effective breakeven price of $21.65, while maximum possible gains of $1.65 per contract result in the event that shares drop 8.3% to settle at $20.00 at expiration in March.
GM - General Motors Co. – Shares in General Motors are up 0.80% at $24.70 after the Company revealed it sold 9.03 million vehicles globally in 2011, which could earn the Detroit, Michigan-based Company the title of world’s largest automaker by unit sales. One sizable options strategy on GM this morning…
Will We Hold It Wednesday – Nasdaq 2,603 Edition
by Phil - December 28th, 2011 6:53 am
Watch the Nasdaq.
That’s the index we need to catch up to the Dow now that the S&P is halfway to goal at 1,297 (from our Must Hold line at 1,235). The Dow is in La La Land, led by MCD (up 31%), IBM (up 26%), PFE (up 24%), HD (up 20%) and KFT (up 20%) while this year’s Dogs of the Dow are BAC (down 59%), AA (down 43%), HPQ (down 39%) and JPM (down 22%).
While the losers may seem to outweigh the winners, that’s not how it works as the Dow is price-weighted so BAC dropping from $14 to $5.50 "only" costs the Dow about 68 points (roughly 8 points for each Dollar), IBMs rise from $145 to $185 added a whopping 320 points.
So a 26% rise in one component and a 59% drop in another nets out to a gain of 252 points! At the beginning of the year, they had roughly the same market cap ($150Bn) but IBM has gained $70Bn and BAC has lost $100Bn which, of course, translates into a net gain of 2% on the entire Dow – BECAUSE IT IS THE STUPIDEST INDEX ON EARTH!
Our Members, of course, know this. I wrote "DJIA: The Most Useless, Overused Tool on the Planet" back in 2006, when GM was still part of the Dow so no need to rehash it all here other than to mention the fact that a 30-component index has made 5 substitutions in the 5 years since I wrote that article only serve to highlight how ridiculous it is to use the Dow to draw long-term conclusions. The Dow is manipulated because it’s easy to and Uncle Rupert sits with the other Masters of the Universe to decide how to use this headline tool to make things look as good as possible in the US markets.
That’s why CSCO and TRV replaced C and GM in June of 2009. C was at $28.80 and is down a bit, GM went BK from $45 (which would have been a 360-point loss in the Dow) while CSCO was disappointing but essentially flat and TRV is up $20, adding another 160 points so a 520-point swing (5%) on those substitutions alone. In September of 2008, AIG ($135 at the time) was swapped for KFT ($32). KFT is just $37.70 but AIG was…
TGIF – Closing a 12% Down Quarter
by Phil - September 30th, 2011 8:15 am
1,320 – That was the S&P close on June 30th.
1,160 – That was the S&P close after yesterday’s wild action. A neat 160-point drop (12%) in 3 months for the World’s largest market kind of sucks, don’t you think? My commentary in June 30th’s "It’s the End of the Quarter as We Know It" post was:
We feel fine because we cashed out on the long side (shorter-term, unhedged positions) and we really don’t care what the market does today or tomorrow but we are betting this rally reverses and we will be taking some (more) short hedges today – hopefully selling into the last legs of this fairly fake-looking rally.
My top downside picks to play the sell-off were EDZ ($17.90 at the time, now $28, which is up 36% even without using options to make a spread) and TZA ($35.50 at the time, now $51.10 – up 44%). As I said in that morning post: "I didn’t think they could take the Dollar below 75 but they hit 74.54 last night and it remains to be seen if they can hold it down in real trading, especially with the Pound weakness (see this morning’s Alert) and the Yen’s unwanted strength. Something’s gotta give and we’re betting it’s this fake, Fake, FAKE rally…."
We were shorting oil futures (/CL) at $95 (now $80, up $15,000 per contract) as we thought the holiday weekend was the end of the run but we did keep heading up to $100 (down $5,000 per contract) before finally getting a drop to $75 (up $25,000 per contract) in early August.
One funny play from that June 30th Member Chat was the VIX Aug $15/17 bull call spread at $1.20, selling the $16 puts for .50 for net .70 on the $2 spread. That just seems so cute (and obvious) with the VIX at 38.84 now (it was 30 at the end of Aug for a full 185% gain on that hedge).
Other hedges we liked in that post were the TZA Oct $31/42 bull call spread at $3, selling RUT Aug $710 puts for $2.90. The RUT puts expired worthless so net .10 on the spread that is currently $20 in the money for pretty much the full 10,900% gain.…
Options Look For GM Rebound Down The Road
by Option Review - August 16th, 2011 1:50 pm
Today’s tickers: GM, BCSI, DSX & GME
GM - General Motors Co. – A couple of bullish bets in options covering automobile manufacturer, General Motors, may prove prudent investments for some strategists should shares in GM increase approximately 15.0% by January expiration. Shares in the Detroit, MI-based company are on the rise in early-afternoon trade, standing 0.45% higher on the session at $26.54 as of 12:10 pm in New York. It looks like options players initiated two ratio call spreads this morning. The larger of the transactions involved the purchase of 3,602 calls at the Jan. 2012 $26 strike at a premium of $2.82 each, against the sale of 7,204 calls up at the Jan. 2012 $30 strike for a premium of $1.22 apiece. Net premium paid for the spread amounts to $0.38 per contract, thus positioning the trader to make money should shares in the automaker exceed the effective breakeven price of $26.38 at expiration in January. The investor could rake in maximum potential profits of $3.62 per contract in the event that shares in GM rally 13.0% to settle at $30.00 at expiration next year. Meanwhile, the smaller and more optimistic of the trades engaged the purchase of 1,000 Jan. 2012 $27 strike calls for an average premium of $2.37 each, and the sale of twice as many of the Jan. 2012 $31 strike contracts at an average premium of $0.97 a-pop. The net cost of the spread amounts to $0.43 apiece, and therefore an average breakeven share price of $31.43. Maximum potential profits of $3.57 per contract are available on the trade should shares in the car maker surge 16.8% to settle at $31.00 at expiration day. Shares in GM last traded above $31.00 back in mid-July.
BCSI - Blue Coat Systems, Inc. – Call options on Blue…
Bulls Eye Avon Products Put Options
by Option Review - April 18th, 2011 4:14 pm
Today’s tickers: AVP, CAT, AMD & GM
AVP - Avon Products, Inc. – Options traders exchanged more than 5 times as many put options as calls on Avon Products today, but it looks like most of the volume was generated by near-term bullish players. Shares in the global manufacturer and marketer of beauty products are currently down 0.85% to stand at $28.10 this afternoon. More than 14,000 put options changed hands at the May $26 strike on paltry previously existing open interest of 644 contracts. It looks like the majority of the puts were sold for a premium of $0.30 a-pop. Put sellers keep the full $0.30 premium per contract as long as Avon’s shares exceed $26.00 through expiration day next month. The deep out-of-the-money puts currently tout a delta of 0.20, or roughly a 20% chance of landing in-the-money. But, Avon Products is slated to report first-quarter earnings before the opening bell on May 3, 2011, and an earnings miss that sends shares in AVP lower, and therefore the delta and premium on the puts higher, could place put sellers in far less comfortable positions. Put sellers could have large amounts to stock put to them at an effective price of $25.70 – after factoring in the $0.30 premium received – if shares in Avon Products plunge 7.5% from the current price of $28.10 to trade beneath $26.00 at expiration. Shares in AVP have exceeded $26.00 since June 9, 2010.
CAT - Caterpillar, Inc. – Shares in the machinery maker joined in on the broad market decline today after Standard & Poor’s Rating Service cut the U.S.’s long-term credit outlook to negative on rising budget deficits and debt. Fears at home add to global concern that economic growth may slow in the event that Greece winds up in default. Caterpillar’s shares fell as much as 4.7% during the first half of the session to touch an intraday low of $102.16. Trading patterns in the weekly options suggest some investors are speculating on an immediate rebound…
Options Players Flock to Wynn Resorts
by Option Review - April 1st, 2011 10:58 pm
Today’s tickers: WYNN, AVL, LLTC & GM
WYNN - Wynn Resorts, Ltd. – Options traders are placing bullish bets on the casino resort operator this morning with shares in Wynn Resorts surging 6.6% to an intraday- and more than three-year high of $135.59. Shares in the Las Vegas, NV-based company, which operates Wynn Macau in China, rallied sharply after casino revenue in Macau jumped 48% over the previous year, topping $2.5 billion in March. Options investors flocked to Wynn Resorts, as well as other casino resort operators with ties to Macau, right out of the gate this morning. Near-term bulls are dominating activity in Wynn’s options in the first half of the session, exchanging roughly 2.8 calls on the stock for each single put option. April contract calls are most active just before 12:00pm in New York, with overall options volume nearing 29,000 contracts against total open interest on WYNN of 140,493 contracts. Some bullish players picked up in-the-money call options, buying more than 1,100 calls at the April $130 strike for an average premium of $4.99 each, and purchasing some 1,400 call options at the April $135 strike at an average premium of $2.31 apiece. Near-term optimism spread to the higher April $140 strike where another 1,375 calls were scooped up for an average premium of $0.99 a-pop. Investors long the April $140 strike calls make money in the event that the casino operator’s shares rally another 4.0% over today’s high of $135.59 to surpass the average breakeven price of $140.99 by April expiration day. Finally, more than 1,800 call options changed hands up at the April $145 strike on open interest of just 256 contracts in the first half of the session. It looks like the vast majority of these calls were purchased at an average premium of $0.48 each. Call buyers at this strike profit in the event that WYNN’s shares jump 7.3% to exceed $145.58 at expiration. Wynn Resorts, Ltd. is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings after the closing bell on April 28, 2011, well past the expiration on April contract options.…
Thrilling Thursday – US Companies Create 1.4M Jobs! (Overseas)
by Phil - December 30th, 2010 8:28 am
US Corporations are hiring – they are just not hiring you!
The Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank, says American companies have created 1.4 million jobs overseas this year, compared with less than 1 million in the U.S. The additional 1.4 million jobs would have lowered the U.S. unemployment rate to 8.9 percent, says Robert Scott, the institute’s senior international economist. "There’s a huge difference between what is good for American companies versus what is good for the American economy," says Scott.
American jobs have been moving overseas for more than two decades. In recent years, though, those jobs have become more sophisticated — think semiconductors and software, not toys and clothes. And now many of the products being made overseas aren’t coming back to the United States. Demand has grown dramatically this year in emerging markets like India, China and Brazil. Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent often points out that a billion consumers will enter the middle class during the coming decade, mostly in Africa, China and India. He is aggressively targeting those markets. Of Coke’s 93,000 global employees, less than 13 percent were in the U.S. in 2009, down from 19 percent five years ago. (see my interview with Kent here).
We’re anticipating the usual 400,000 jobs lost for the week at 8:30 this morning and I sure didn’t see too many "Help Wanted" signs at the malls this year, or anywhere else now that I think about it. We also have the Chicago PMI at 9:45, Pending Home Sales at 10:00, Natural Gas Inventories at 10:30 followed by both Oil Inventories at 11 along with the Kansas City Fed’s Manufacturing Index. Later today (3pm) we get the very inflationary USDA Agriculture Prices where we can short FCOJ like this as the panic that drove prices up this week seems a bit overdone.
Of course, I’ve been saying the entire commodity rally is overdone as I don’t see how firing 1.4M Americans who made $35,000 and replacing them with 1.4M Chinese workers who make $2,500 means the price of oil should go up. Only the fact that the US Government is going deeper and deeper into debt to help those 1.4M laid off Americans buy their next tank of gas is keeping demand level – without that support, buses would be MUCH more popular in the US, as they already are in China…
Wednesday Chart Watch – The International Perspective
by Phil - December 29th, 2010 7:56 am
So, how are we doing?
I liked David Fry’s tweet (is that the right word – I feel so old when I don’t know this stuff!) yesterday which said: "SPY volume again pathetic at 55M shares. What’s there to write about today? Seems many investors still stuck on planes that aren’t moving." Dave was smart enough to take the day off – me, not so much. We did pick up another .20 with up the DIA Weekly $114 calls at 10:41 in Member Chat for $1.60and those were done at 1:05 for $1.80 as the market looked too risky to me. That was kind of silly as we do know that low volume is the bulls best friend but we’re trying to get back to cash each day on quick trades – especially on calls that expire on Friday!
As you can see from the Euro chart (click to enlarge), I’m not ready to give up on my bearish premise, which is essentially that Europe may be in worse shape than the US and the Dollar and – IF the EU runs into crisis – then the Dollar looks RELATIVELY better and, despite all of Timmy and The Bernank’s best efforts to destroy it – a strong dollar will pretty much undermine everybody’s bullish premise since the only real bullish premise people have is that our worthless currency will drive people into equities and commodities since Treasury and the Fed will artificially keep bond rates so low as to make them unpalatable alternatives.
Even Glenview’s Larry Robbins, who I thought would perhaps have an original thought in his Dow 20,000 premise, does not. The man entrusted with $4.8Bn of other people’s money predicts that p/e multiples will expand by, get this, 45% by the end of 2013 – rocketing the Dow to 20,000 despite just 5% annual earnings growth. Larry Robbins thinks those investing in 10-year treasuries aren’t doing so for the paltry return. They’re in it to front run the Fed and make a quick buck at the expense of the taxpayers. Once this trade is over, Robbins says, they have nowhere to go except the high quality equities in the stock market.
Read into any bull premise and you’ll find inflation at the heart of it. The Global Economy is not really improving but the numbers are looking up because it costs more money to do everything. Now,…
Demand for GM Calls Rises as Analyst Upgrades Lift Shares
by Option Review - December 28th, 2010 4:16 pm
Today’s tickers: GM, CECO, PFE & EDMC
GM - General Motors Co. – An onslaught of analyst upgrades for General Motors sent the automaker’s shares higher and kicked bullish trading in its options into high gear today. GM’s shares increased as much as 3.00% to secure an intraday high of $35.64 as of 12:55pm. The car and truck manufacturer was rated new ‘outperform’ with a target share price of $43.00 at Credit Suisse, new ‘hold’ with a 12-month target of $38.00 at Soleil Securities, new ‘buy’ with a target share price of $45.00 at Citigroup, and was rated new ‘overweight’ at JPMorgan Chase & Co., Barclays PLC and Morgan Stanley, among others. While near-term calls were active during the session, it was a large print in March 2011 contract calls that caught our eye. It looks like one bullish player scooped up 10,000 calls at the March 2011 $38 strike, which is more than two times greater than the 4,463 lots of previously existing open interest at that strike, for a premium of $0.85 per contract. The call buyer stands ready to profit should GM’s shares jump 9.00% over the current price of $35.64 to trade above the effective breakeven point at $38.85 before the contracts expire in March. It looks like General Motors may report fourth-quarter results at some point on March 10, 2011.
CECO - Career Education Corp. – Put buying observed on the beleaguered provider of for-profit education services on Monday continued this morning as shares in Career Education Corp. slipped 1.6% lower to $19.95 in the first half of the session. Investors positioning for shares in CECO to decline significantly in the next couple of months purchased at least 2,000 puts at the February 2011 $17 strike for a premium of $0.39 apiece yesterday. Today, bears once again targeted the same February 2011 $17 strike, buying up more than 2,400 puts for an average premium of $0.49 each. Put buyers paying $0.49 in premium per contract are poised to profit should Career…
German
Spanish
French
Italian
Portuguese
Japanese
Korean
Russian
Chinese
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
(