Bearish Put Butterfly Spread Materializes on Emerging Markets Fund
by Andrew Wilkinson - March 10th, 2010 4:13 pm
Today’s tickers: EEM, GE, PXD, STI, VLO, UPS, RF, NWL, HNT & FFIV
EEM - iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF – A contrarian options trader established a large-volume bearish put butterfly spread in the June contract this afternoon even though shares of the emerging markets exchange-traded fund, which looks for investment results that correlate to the price and yield performance of the MSCI Emerging Markets index (an index designed by MSCI as an equity benchmark for international stock performance), are trading 0.65% higher to $41.47 as of 2:30 pm (ET). The massive pessimistic play yields maximum benefits to its owner if shares of the underlying stock plummet more than 15.50% from the current price to $35.00 by June expiration. The investor enacted the butterfly by purchasing 20,000 puts at the June $31 strike for a premium of $0.24 apiece [wing 1] in conjunction with the purchase of another 20,000 puts at the higher June $39 strike for $1.41 each [wing 2]. Finally, the body of the butterfly spread involved the sale of 40,000 puts at the central June $35 strike for a premium of $0.58 apiece. The net cost of the ‘fly amounts to just $0.49 per contract. Therefore, the bearish player is positioned to reel in maximum potential profits of $3.51 per contract – total net profits of $7.02 million – should shares of the underlying fund slip to $35.00 by expiration day. Shares of the EEM must surrender at least 7% of their current value by June expiration in order for the investor to breakeven at $38.51. The transaction is a very efficient way for this investor to establish a pessimistic stance on the emerging markets fund because maximum potential gains trump maximum possible losses on the position. The parameters of the butterfly spread represent a reward-to-risk ratio of more than 7-to-1.
GE - General Electric Co. – The diverse conglomerate’s shares are standing 0.30% higher on the day at $16.55 with one hour remaining in the trading session. General Electric’s shares have rebounded 6.30% in the past month since dipping to $15.57 on February 12, 2010, but one big options strategist is positioning for continued bullish momentum in the price of the underlying stock through expiration in May. The optimistic investor initiated a large-volume bullish risk reversal play by shedding 20,000 puts at the June $15 strike for an average premium of $0.37 apiece, spread against the purchase of 20,000…
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Analyst Upgrade Fuels Bullish Option Plays on Iron-Ore Giant Vale
by Andrew Wilkinson - January 19th, 2010 4:36 pm
Today’s tickers: VALE, MBT, FXI, NWL, CSE, VZ, XLV, CBY, HSY & SYMC
VALE – Vale S.A. – Shares of the world’s largest producer of iron-ore surged 2.75% in afternoon trading to stand at $31.18 after the firm received an upgrade to ‘overweight’ from ‘equal weight’ with a target share price of $39.00 at Barclays Capital. Indications of like-minded optimism are apparent in today’s option trading patterns on the stock. It looks like one investor initiated a put credit spread in the March contract. The bullish transaction involved the sale of 5,000 puts at the March $31 strike for a premium of $1.67 apiece, spread against the purchase of 5,000 puts at the lower March $28 strike for an average premium of $0.66 each. The credit spread results in a net credit of 1.01 per contract to the investor, who keeps the full premium received if VALE’s shares trade above $31.00 through expiration in March. The width of the spread indicates maximum potential losses on the trade of $1.99 per contract if shares of the iron-ore maker slump to $28.00 ahead of expiration.
MBT – Mobile Telesystems OJSC – The Russian provider of wireless communication services appeared on our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner this afternoon due to near-term bullish options activity. Optimistic option plays fit neatly with the current 3.5% rally in shares of the underlying to $52.25 today. Traders sold 2,500 puts at the February $47.5 strike for a premium of $0.70 per contract, while the same number of calls were purchased at the higher February $55 strike for about $1.05 apiece. Another chunk of 2,500 puts were shed at the March $40 strike for approximately $0.33 each. All three transactions indicate bullish sentiment on Mobile Telesystems. If the trades are perhaps the work of one individual, the three-legged combination creates a clear directional play. In such a case, the investor will have paid a net $0.02 per contract for the calls by selling short the put options as described above. The long call stance positions the trader – in this example – to accrue profits if shares of MBT rally another 5.30% to surpass the effective breakeven price of $55.02 by expiration next month. We note that shares of the firm traded as high as $55.71 on October 21, 2009.
FXI – iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index Fund – Shares of the FXI, which invests assets in 25 of the largest and…
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Retail Reversal Combination Grabs Attention on XRT
by Andrew Wilkinson - November 4th, 2009 4:11 pm
Today’s tickers: XRT, MGM, DE, GLD, UUP, NWL, HNZ, EWZ, UNH, OSTK & STEC
XRT - SPDR S&P Retail ETF – A three-legged transaction in the December contract on the retail exchange-traded fund reveals bearish sentiment by one investor. Shares of the XRT are trading nearly 1% higher today to $34.60. It looks like the trader sold call options in order to offset the cost of buying a put spread. The put spread involved the purchase of 5,000 puts at the December 33 strike for a premium of 1.07 apiece, marked against the sale off 5,000 puts at the lower December 30 strike for approximately 37 cents each. The sale of 5,000 calls at the higher December 36 strike knocked another 87 cents per contract off the total price of the bearish play. The investor more than offset the cost of buying the spread and thus receives a net credit of 17 cents per contract. The full credit is retained by the trader as long as shares of the XRT remain below $36.00 through expiration. Additional profits may accumulate if shares dip below $33.00, while maximum potential gains of 3.00 per contract require that shares trade down to $30.00.
MGM - MGM Mirage, Inc. – Shares of the casino resort operator slipped 2.5% lower to $9.40 today but one options optimist initiated a bullish play on the stock in the March 2010 contract. It appears the trader put on a ratio call spread by buying one in-the-money call option for every three out-of-the-money calls sold. The investor purchased 10,000 calls at the deep in-the-money March 7.0 strike for 3.20 apiece and simultaneously sold 30,000 calls at the higher March 12 strike for 1.05 each. The net cost of the transaction is reduced to just one nickel per contract. The investor probably does not expect shares to rally through $12.00 by expiration because he is short 20,000 calls at that strike price in the March contract. Shares of MGM last traded above $12.00 on October 14, 2009.
DE - Deere & Co. – A large bearish butterfly spread appeared in the March 2010 contract on the agricultural equipment maker. The transaction indicates one investor is positioning for significant declines in the price of DE shares by expiration. Shares are down 1% to $46.76 with just under 90 minutes remaining in the trading day. The investor purchased the upper wing of the spread at the March 40 strike…
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Sequenom takes a swan dive
by Andrew Wilkinson - April 30th, 2009 4:33 pm
Today’s tickers: SQNM, YHOO, XLY, XLI, GMCR, NWL, PFE & UBS
SQNM Sequenom, Inc. – Shares of the diagnostic testing and genetics analysis company have plummeted by more than 75%, crashing through the 52-week low for the stock of $6.19, to arrive at the current price of $3.68. The catastrophic decline stems from SQNM’s announcement that the launch of its SEQureDx test for Down syndrome is now delayed due to findings that employees of the company had mishandled crucial test data supporting the product’s validity. The news of the test’s delay does nothing to help the fact that the firm’s first-quarter loss widened to 29 cents per share, and Sequenom received a number of downgrades today including a rating of ‘underperform’ from ‘market perform’ by an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. Option investors reacted to the bearish move on the stock by picking up 1,500 protective puts at June 2.5 strike price for an average premium of 41 cents apiece. In the near-term May contract, traders shed more than 4,200 calls at the May 5.0 strike for 39 cents each. Investors who were long put options at higher strikes were able to make a killing today by selling the protection. For example, it appears that one trader originally purchased about 3,500 puts for 2.00 apiece on April 1, 2009, and today sold the lots for 6.80 each. The profits garnered on such a trade amount to 4.80 per put option sold. On the flip side, investors who appear to have held a short put position at higher strikes were faced with deep in-the-money premiums. One investor who looks to have sold 3,500 puts at the May 12.5 strike for about 1.20 apiece back on April 1, 2009, today was forced to close out the short position by paying a premium of 9.00 each for the put options. This transaction results in a loss of 7.80. Option implied volatility on the stock sky-rocketed as high as 239% up from yesterday’s reading of 91%, but has since tapered off to the current value of 195.5%.
YHOO Yahoo! Inc. – The global internet brand has experienced a modest 1.5% rise in shares today to stand at $14.27. Options activity was slightly more bullish today with more than 3 call options traded to every put in play on the stock. Optimistic investors targeted the June contract where more than 11,100 calls were purchased at the June 15…
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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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