Options Active In Biotechnology Space
by Option Review - January 24th, 2012 3:25 pm
Today’s tickers: IBB, AMAG & AONE
IBB - iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology Index Fund – Shares in the IBB, an ETF that tracks the performance of the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index, an index containing securities of companies classified as either biotechnology or pharmaceuticals, are outperforming the S&P 500 this morning, up 0.40% at $112.73 as of 11:30 a.m. in New York. The Fund’s shares are slightly off their all-time high of $114.87 set last Thursday, and options activity on the ETF today suggests one strategist may be locking in recent gains ahead of a spate of earnings releases from companies in the Index. The top 10 holdings represent more than 50% of the total Index. Amgen, Inc. and Celgene Corp. are the two largest holdings, comprising approximately 8.8% and 6.6%, respectively. Both companies are scheduled to report earnings this Thursday. The strategist responsible for the single largest transaction in IBB options today may be hedging a long position in the index or components, or may be taking an outright bearish stance on the biotech and pharmaceuticals space during earnings season. The trader appears to have sold around 4,500 calls at the Mar. $115 strike in order to partially finance the purchase of a 4,500-lot Mar. $107/$112 put spread, all for a net premium outlay of $0.05 per contract. The sale of the call options greatly reduced the cost of the put spread, which may yield profits – or downside protection – to the investor in the event that shares in the IBB dip 0.70% to breach the effective breakeven price of $111.95. Maximum potential profits of $4.95 per contract are available on the position should shares drop 5.1% to settle at or below $107.00 at expiration. The short calls, if uncovered, could result in losses on the trade in the event that the Fund’s shares rally to new record highs by expiration in March.…
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DiggBullish Smoke Signals Detected at Human Genome Sciences
by Option Review - November 11th, 2010 5:03 pm
Today’s tickers: HGSI, BSX, DFS, CSCO, LVLT, AMGN & IBB
HGSI - Human Genome Sciences, Inc. – Shares in Human Genome Sciences are up 8.9% to trade around $26.49 in the final hour of the trading session on speculation the firm could become an attractive takeover target if its lupus drug treatment, Benlysta, wins approval next month. Options traders sent up a number of bullish signals using January 2011 contract call and put options. Earlier this morning, one optimistic investor initiated a debit call spread, buying 3,000 calls at the January 2011 $27 strike for a premium of $3.90 each, and selling the same number of calls at the higher January 2011 $40 strike at a premium of $0.375 apiece. The net cost of putting on the spread amounts to $3.525 per contract. The investor makes money on the spread if Human Genome’s shares surge 15.2% over the current price of $26.49 to exceed the effective breakeven point at $30.525 by January expiration. The call spreader could end up taking home maximum potential profits of $9.475 per contract if the price of the underlying stock jumps 51.0% to trade above $40.00 by expiration day next year. The trader is well positioned to benefit from the rally in HGSI shares that would accompany Benlysta’s approval and/or continued takeover chatter. Another bullish sign that appeared in the same expiry involved put options. It looks like another investor unraveled a previously established bear put spread, selling 2,750 puts at the Jan. 2011 $20 strike and buying the same number of puts at the lower Jan. 2011 $15 strike, to take in a net premium of $1.25 per contract. It is possible the transaction is an opening credit put spread rather than a closing sale, but open interest levels at both strikes are more than sufficient to cover today’s volume. Either way, the trade is another sign of optimism on the biotechnology company ahead of the key drug approval decision. Options implied volatility on the stock is…
Put Butterfly Spread on Financials ETF Points to Persisting Pessimism
by Option Review - May 10th, 2010 4:22 pm
Today’s tickers: XLF, CMCSA, IBB, IYR, KBE & RIG
XLF – Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF – Investors heavily favored put options over call options on the financial SPDR today despite the 4.4% rebound in the price of the underlying stock to $15.75. Earlier in the trading session shares of the XLF, an exchange-traded fund seeking investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the Financial Select Sector of the S&P 500 Index, increased 6.15% over Friday’s closing price of $15.09 to reach an intraday high of $16.02 in the first 30 minutes of the session. Options traders populating the fund today initiated decidedly bearish transactions signaling shares of the fund may be unable to retain the current rebound. Near-term pessimism took the form of a large-volume debit put spread in the May contract. It looks like one investor purchased 36,000 puts at the May $15 strike for a premium of $0.17 apiece, and sold the same number of puts at the lower May $14 strike for $0.07 each. The net cost of the trade amounts to $0.10 per contract, thus positioning the put player to pocket maximum potential profits of $0.90 per contract should shares decline 11.11% from the current price to breach the $14.00-level by expiration day. The trade is perhaps the work of an investor still smarting from last week’s market meltdown now taking advantage of relatively cheap downside protection today to hedge against similar catastrophic events. Bearishness spread to the June contract where another pessimistic individual enacted a put butterfly spread. The transaction involved the purchase of 10,000 now in-the-money puts at the June $16 strike for a premium of $0.67 each [wing 1] and the purchase of 10,000 puts at the lower June $14 strike for $0.23 apiece [wing 2]. The body of the butterfly, nestled between the two wings at the central June $15 strike, involved the sale of 20,000 puts for a premium of $0.41 each. The net cost of the butterfly spread amounts to just $0.08 per contract. The trade yields maximum potential profits of $0.92 per contract to the responsible party if shares of the XLF fall 4.75% from the current price to settle at $15.00 at June expiration. The investor starts to make money if shares of the financials ETF slip beneath the upper breakeven price of $15.92. Options traders exchanged more than 440,000 contracts on the…
Option Implied Volatility on JPM at Lowest Level Since Oct. 2007 Following Q4 Earnings
by Option Review - January 15th, 2010 4:21 pm
Today’s tickers: JPM, MNKD, CHK, BIDU, PFE, FXE, AA, SHFL, IBB & INTC
JPM – JPMorgan Chase & Co. – Profit-taking measures employed on the banking institution today show keen foresight by one investor who walked away from the table today with a nice chunk of change in his pocket. Shares of JPMorgan are currently trading 1.80% lower this afternoon to $43.89 even though the firm posted fourth-quarter earnings of $0.40 per share, which exceeded average analyst expectations by a margin of $0.13 a share. It looks like the investor banked gains on a previously established short put position in the February contract today by buying back the contracts at a discounted premium. The trader originally sold 20,000 puts at the February $42 strike for an average premium of $1.02 per contract this past Wednesday January 13, 2010. Today the same individual appears to have purchased-to-close the position by paying a lesser premium of $0.67 per contract. Net proceeds on the transaction amount to $0.35 apiece. The decline in shares of the underlying today certainly cut into the trader’s available profit, but the significant reduction in option implied volatility perhaps benefited the investor by weighing down option premiums. Option implied is 17.94% lower to stand at 25.13% – the lowest level since October of 2007 – as of 2:45 pm (EDT).
MNKD – MannKind Corp. – Shares of the biopharmaceutical company increased 7% in the first half of the trading day, but reversed direction in afternoon trading, falling 2.5% to stand at $10.10. Options activity in the May contract indicates lower volatility in the price of the underlying through expiration. It appears one investor initiated a short straddle play on the stock by selling 5,000 calls at the May $10 strike for a premium of $2.41 apiece, in combination with the sale of 5,000 puts at the same strike for $3.22 each. The straddle-seller pockets a gross premium of $5.63 per contract, which he keeps if MNKD’s shares settle at $10.00 by expiration. The transaction could be the work of an investor selling volatility. Implied volatility is currently up 8.4% to 122.16% with 90 minutes remaining in the session. The investor need not hold the short straddle through expiration in order to profit. Perhaps the trader is looking for a reduction in option implied volatility, which would likely result in lower premiums on both the calls and the puts. Lower…
Joy Global Options Active at the Close
by Option Review - October 19th, 2009 5:04 pm
Today’s tickers: JOYG, PRX, POT, IOC, QLGC, CAT & IBB
JOYG – Joy Global, Inc. – The manufacturer of mining equipment used to extract coal, copper, and other minerals, realized a 6% improvement in shares today to $55.13. Large-volume options trading took place just ahead of the closing bell as one investor banked gains and extended a bullish position on the stock. It appears the trader originally purchased 15,000 calls at the January 50 strike on August 4, 2009, for a premium of between 2.00 to 2.55 per contract. Today, he seems to have sold all 15,000 calls for 8.10 apiece. Net profits received on the closing sale amount to a minimum of 5.55 each up to a maximum of 6.10 per contract. Depending on the price the investor paid to initially purchase the calls, he reeled in at least $8,325,000, and could have banked as much as $9,150,000, by selling the now deep in-the-money call options today. Perhaps hoping to accumulate additional profits by expiration in January 2010, the trader doubled up on call options by purchasing 30,000 lots at the higher January 60 strike for an average premium of 3.30 per contract. The investor may add to his profits if shares rally another 15% to surpass the breakeven point at $63.30 by expiration day.
PRX – Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc. – The distributor of branded and generic pharmaceuticals in the U.S. appeared on our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner due to bearish options trading. Shares of PRX fell more than 5% to $22.51 after receiving a downgrade to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’ at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. One pessimistic option trader initiated a credit spread on PRX using call options in the November contract. The transaction involved the sale of 2,500 calls at the November 22.5 strike for 1.47 apiece, spread against the purchase of 2,500 calls at the higher November 25 strike for 55 cents each. The investor receives a net credit of approximately 92 cents per contract. The full 92 cent credit is retained by the trader as long as the November 22.5 strike call options land out-of-the-money by expiration.
POT – Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Inc. – Shares of Canada-based Potash Corp. surged more than 5.5% to $102.90 today on speculation that BHP Billiton Ltd. – the world’s largest mining company – may be interested in acquiring the fertilizer producer. Option traders exchanged…
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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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