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Posts Tagged ‘LIZ’

Option Trader Prescribes Bullish Risk Reversal on CVS

Today’s tickers: CVS, LIZ, ITMN, MA, V, RF, KG, HW, WSM, AEP & NTAP

CVS - CVS Caremark Corp. – Shares of the pharmacy retail chain are up 1.5% to $31.11 perhaps due, in part, to the ‘buy’ rating it received at UBS today. Optimistic options activity took place in the December contract as one investor initiated a bullish risk reversal. It appears the trader sold 4,400 puts at the December 31 strike for an average premium of 94 cents apiece in order to finance the purchase of the same number of calls at the higher December 32 strike for 63 cents each. The investor pockets a 31 cent credit on the trade, which he retains in full as long as shares remain above $31.00 through expiration. Additional profits accumulate if CVS’s shares rally above $32.00.

LIZ - Liz Claiborne, Inc. – A 15,000-lot covered call in the January 2011 contract on Liz Claiborne today suggests shares are likely to recover, albeit at a glacial pace. Shares of the apparel and accessories retailer suffered a 5% decline to $4.55 during the trading session. One investor effectively purchased shares of the underlying stock for $3.30 apiece by selling 15,000 calls at the January 2011 5.0 strike for a premium of 1.25 each. Thus, the trader stands ready to accrue gains of 51% if shares of LIZ appreciate to $5.00 by expiration. The long-term positioning of the covered call play provides several advantages to the investor. One advantage is that the call options do not expire for another 13 months, which leaves ample time for LIZ’s shares to appreciate up to the strike price of $5.00. The 15,000-lot call transaction represents nearly 50% of the total existing open interest on LIZ of 31,502 contracts. Note that shares last traded above $5.00 yesterday at approximately 10:35 am (EDT).

ITMN - InterMune, Inc. – A bull call spread on the biotechnology company today suggests shares could rally significantly by expiration in April 2010. Bullish options activity on the stock belies the more than 3% decline in ITMN’s shares during the session to $10.94. The call spread involved the purchase of 3,750 calls at the April 15 strike for an average premium of 2.25 each, marked against the sale of the same number of calls at the higher April 25 strike for 75 cents apiece. The net cost of the transaction amounts to 1.50 per contract. The optimistic investor is positioned…
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Popular Bank Shares Surge as Option Player Stakes a Claim

Today’s tickers: BPOP, LNCR, EEM, XLK, XL, PALM, LIZ & MI

BPOP - The ‘popular’ bank popped up on our screens this afternoon after a large-volume risk reversal was established on the stock. The massive trade was likely the work of an investor with knowledge of commercial banks as approximately 60,000 contracts were exchanged on BPOP amid a more than 12% rally in shares of the underlying to $2.60. It appears the trader purchased 30,000 now in-the-money October 2.5 strike calls for an average premium of 33 cents apiece. He funded the purchase of the calls by selling 30,000 puts at the January 2.5 strike for 43 cents each. The investor received a net credit on the transaction of 10 pennies per contract. The motivation is perhaps that this individual is swimming with the rising tide of financial names today and expects a far larger rally lifting shares towards $3.75-resistance level. If this is the case, he is likely to exercise the calls by October’s expiration and take delivery of the underlying shares to ride with the stock’s upward momentum. Even if the move continues somewhat, it would likely reverse the structure of this trade to his advantage. – Popular, Inc. –

LNCR - The provider of oxygen and respiratory therapy services attracted option bulls today with shares of the firm standing more than 13% higher for the session to $29.85. Option implied volatility on LNCR exploded 50% higher from a low of 32% this morning to an intra-day high of 48%. The burst in volatility is likely due to increased investor demand for calls on the stock as well as greater uncertainty regarding future price movements in shares of Lincare. Perhaps the rise in uncertainty stems from news that Deutsche Bank raised LNCR’s target price from $33.00 to $38.00 today and maintained their ‘buy’ rating on the stock. Investors gobbled up 2,200 September 30 strike calls for an average premium of 31 cents. The contracts will expire worthless unless shares breach the $30.00-level to land in-the-money by Friday. Bullish sentiment spread to the October 30 strike where traders coveted 2,400 calls for about 71 cents premium. Investors long the calls will begin to amass profits if shares rally through the breakeven point at $30.71 by expiration in October. – Lincare Holdings Inc. –

EEM - The emerging markets exchange-traded fund jumped higher on our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner this afternoon after…
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Phil's Favorites

FINRA Story

Larry Doyle's been reporting on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) over the past year and a half. His efforts are beginning to pay off. Recently, investigators from the government watchdog unit, the Project on Government Oversight, referenced Larry's work in a letter sent to banking, finance, and oversight sub-committees up on the Hill regarding FINRA. Here's three important posts by Larry that help tell the FINRA story. - Ilene 

Barron’s Highlights FINRA’s Stench  ...

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Zero Hedge

Summarizing Today's Fed Chairman Q&A: Prepare To Vastly Exceed Your Recommended Daily Allowance Of Bernanke's Prevarications

Courtesy of Tyler Durden

Going through today's pertinent Q&A with Bernanke, initially we focus on Fed nemesis #1, Ron Paul. First question of relevance: "Do you Mr. Bernanke think that rates were hold too low for too long?" The degree of Fed delusion is easily seen by the response: "the bottom line is nobody really knows for sure, but the evidence is quite mixed." Obviously the bald one has never attempted to sell a home in the Inland Empire. The evidence sure would be a little less mixed in that case. But at least Bubble Ben has given a speech on it (which incidentally caused John Taylor to almost have a conniption against the stupidity of the Fed's chairman). Yet just in case you thought the man may have at least one screw unloose in his voluminous cranial hollow, Bernanke opens his mouth and says "Even if rates were too low for too long, the magnitude of the error was not big enough to account for ...



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Chart School

Bubble-nomics: SP and Nasdaq Straining at Resistance And the Remnants of Fear

Bubble-nomics: SP and Nasdaq Straining at Resistance And the Remnants of Fear

Courtesy of JESSE'S CAFÉ AMÉRICAIN

The SP is trying to break out of the trend and hold it's gains. I would not get in front of this, unless you wish to guarantee an opportunity for an additional short squeeze. Remember, the wiseguys can peek into your collective hand at will, and read your strategy within milliseconds of your executing it. That is why playing short term trends is becoming increasingly difficult for the individual speculator. more from Chart School

Trading Goddess

Pivotfarm Support and Resistance Levels 18th March 2010



Pivotfarm.com provides Support & Resistance, Fibonacci, Volume Analysis, Market Profile, Moving Average and Pivot Information for day traders. These data sheets are designed to help day traders gain an edge in the market, providing all the most important information a trader needs in one clear and concise data sheet.

Today's levels can be found by clicking here




You can now have the Support and Resistance levels emailed to you via our Newsletter every morning please sign up at pivotfarm.com

All information on this website is for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide financial advise. Any sta...



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Oxen Group Trades

Overnight Trade: This One is in the Bag!

I love my clever title for this post. Today, we are going back into the retail sector again to look to make some money. Yesterday, retail was good to us with a pick up of Rue21 Inc. (



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The Options Report

By Andrew Wilkinson


UnitedHealth Bulls Have a Fever – the Only Prescription is More Call Options

Today’s tickers: UNH, BZH, WFC, GE, XLB, WMT, BAC, COF, HOG, ETFC & STJ

UNH - UnitedHealth Group, Inc. – Health and well-being company, UnitedHealth Group, commenced the trading session in the red after Goldman Sachs Group removed the firm from its ‘Conviction Buy List’. However, UNH is still rated as a ‘buy’ at Goldman, and the company’s shares recovered this afternoon to stand 0.60% higher at $32.73. A fire-storm of bullish activity descended on UnitedHealth during the middle of the trading day. Investors gobbled up April contract call options perhaps to position for continued bullish movement in the price of the underlying shares. Options players purchased 42,600 call options at the April $34 strike for an average ...



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Insider Zone


Insiders: March to Exit

By Ilene

Let's take a look at Insider Buying and Selling over the last week or so. These are screen shots from Finviz - the significant buys against a green background first and significant sells against the pink background second.  All the buys fit into my screen shot but the sells did not.  Click here to see all the sells.  

Note that the largest buy in the group, for KITD was at a price of 9.73 (KITD is currently at 11.54). The buy was part of an Equity Offering rather than an open market purchase. Tuzman Kaleil Isaza's (KITD's Chairman and Chief Exec. Officer) history of buys is http://www.insidercow.com/ more from Insider

OpTrader


Swing trading portfolio - week of March 15th 2010

This post is for live trades and daily comments. 

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

- Optrader

...

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About Phil:

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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Ilene is editor and affiliate program coordinator for PSW. She manages the Favorites backup site (blogroll, archives, more). Contact Ilene to learn about our affiliate and content sharing programs.

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