Bullish Options Trades Give Eastman Chemical, Solutia Deal Thumbs-Up
by Option Review - January 27th, 2012 3:07 pm
Today’s tickers: EMN, SOA & OSK
EMN - Eastman Chemical Co. – Investors cheered the deal announced by Eastman Chemical Co. and Solutia, Inc., sending shares in both companies up sharply on Friday. Eastman will reportedly pay $3.38 billion for Solutia, the largest takeover in the diversified chemicals space in more than two years. EMN’s shares are currently up 6.0% to stand at $49.93 as of 11:30 a.m., and have rallied nearly 25.0% since the start of the New Year. Options activity on Eastman following news of the deal suggests some strategists expect shares in the manufacturer of chemicals, plastics and fibers to extend gains in coming months. Investors are favoring call options on EMN, exchanging more than 2.3 calls on the stock for every one put option in play. Call volume is heaviest in the March expiry, more specifically at the $50 and $52.5 strike prices. Nearly 3,000 calls have changed hands at the Mar. $50 strike against open interest of 379 positions. It looks like most of these contracts were purchased for an average premium of $3.10 each, thus positioning buyers to profit in the event that Eastman’s shares rally another 6.3% to surpass the average breakeven price of $53.10 by expiration. Bullish activity spread to the higher Mar. $52.5 strike, where investors appear to have purchased more than 1,000 calls at an average premium of $1.42 apiece. Higher-strike call buyers may profit at March expiration if shares in the chemical producer surge 8.0% to exceed the average breakeven price of $53.92. Eastman’s shares last traded above $53.92 back in May 2011. The Company reported fourth-quarter and full year earnings after the closing bell yesterday.
SOA - Solutia, Inc. – Shares in St. Louis, Missouri-based Solutia, Inc. jumped 43.0% to an…
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn 
del.icio.us
DiggGreen Mountain Jitters Continue To Drive Heavy Trading In Options-Land
by Option Review - October 20th, 2011 3:14 pm
Today’s tickers: GMCR, TOT, BP, MSFT & OSK
GMCR - Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. – Shares in Green Mountain Coffee Roasters turned positive earlier in the session, but are now continuing to unravel on the heels of a roughly 25.0% decline in price since hedge fund manager David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital presented analysis of the coffee company at an investor conference on Monday. Over the past month, the stock has fallen as much as 45.0% to touch today’s intraday low of $63.26 since reaching the September 20, 52-week high of $115.98. Frenzied trading in GMCR options continues today, following similarly active sessions earlier in the week. Investors are exchanging calls and puts in relatively equal numbers, with puts outpacing calls slightly in early-afternoon trade.
The front month garnered the most attention from options players placing short-term bets on the stock ahead of expiration at the end of the week. Investors hoping the stock has reached a bottom appear to have purchased in- and out-of-the-money calls, and sold puts. Meanwhile, concerned parties wary the stock could extend losses snapped up puts. The bears bought around 1,100 puts at the Oct. $55 strike for an average premium of $1.09 each. These deep out-of-the-money put options may expire worthless at expiration if shares in GMCR fail to drop sharply by the end of the trading week. But, the puts could provide quick profits for some traders if premium on the contracts rises with either volatility or further declines in the price of the underlying. The most active put on Green Mountain is the Oct. $65 strike, where nearly 6,000 puts changed hands against open interest of 1,539 positions. Trading patterns in the puts reveal mixed opinion.
Investors itching for a quick rebound in GMCR purchased October contract calls. More than 7,000 calls have traded at each of the Oct. $70 and $75 strikes. While both buyers and sellers drove volume in the contracts, there does appear to be somewhat of a bullish bias thus far today. Traders long the calls may profit at expiration should the week wrap up with shares in Green Mountain back on track. Overall volume in GMCR options is just under 100,000 contracts as of 2:10 pm on the East Coast.
BP & TOT - BP PLC & Total SA – Big prints in call options on European oil behemoths, BP and Total, shed some light on one strategist’s view of which company’s…
Options Player Harvests Premium, Sells Ralph Lauren Corp. Calls
by Option Review - September 14th, 2011 2:13 pm
Today’s tickers: RL, OSK, SPLS & RAX
RL - Ralph Lauren Corp. – The designer of premium-brand lifestyle products ranging from men’s and women’s fashion to fragrances and home furnishings popped up on our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner after one investor traded a large chunk of deep out-of-the-money October contract call options. Shares in Ralph Lauren Corp. fell 2.0% earlier in the session to $135.69, but recovered in early-afternoon trade to stand roughly flat on the session at $138.82 as of 12:20 pm ET. The stock currently trades a few dollars below its July 21 all-time high of $141.37. The strategist responsible for nearly all of the options volume on Ralph Lauren today appears to be taking the view that the price of the underlying shares are unlikely to soar above $155.00 within the next five weeks to October expiration. More than 9,900 call options changed hands at the October $155 strike against paltry previously existing open interest of just 372 contracts. One block of 9,075 of those calls were sold by one investor at a premium of $1.70 a-pop within the first hour of the trading session. The trader selling the calls keeps the full amount of premium received on the transaction as long as shares in Ralph Lauren fail to exceed $155.00 come expiration day. The investor may be selling the calls outright, or could be writing the options against an existing long position in the underlying shares. In the naked short scenario, the strategist may accrue losses on the position in the event that RL’s shares jump 12.9% over the current price of $138.82 to surpass the effective breakeven price of $156.70. Options implied volatility on the stock dropped 5.05% this afternoon to 46.3%. Ralph Lauren reports second-quarter earnings on November 9, 2011, well after October options expiration.…
Bullish Predictions Payoff For Skechers Call Buyers
by Option Review - July 28th, 2011 4:54 pm
Today’s tickers: SKX, RCL, OSK & TWI
SKX - Skechers USA, Inc. – The footwear designer’s decision to purge inventory of some 2 million pairs of its Shape-ups sneakers in exchange for a $21 million loss pleased investors reviewing the somewhat ugly second-quarter earnings report released from Skechers USA on Wednesday. Shares in the Manhattan Beach, CA-based company sky-rocketed 25.0% on Thursday morning to an intraday high of $17.88 despite the shoe retailer’s reported net loss of $0.62 a share on 14% lower revenue for the quarter. Steps taken by the company to clear out inventory as well as promising international growth prospects seem to have overshadowed weaker-than-expected top- and bottom-line results. Bullish momentum in the shares was also aided by an analyst at BB&T Capital Markets who raised Skechers to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ with a 12-month target share price of $18.00.
On Monday we noted bullish call buying taking place in the September and October contracts, and suggested traders long those calls may benefit from a post-earnings pop in the price of the underlying. Lo-and-behold, shares are soaring and some investors have seen the value of their positions more than double this week. For example, traders purchased around 2,200 October $15 strike calls on Monday for an average premium of $1.07 apiece. Today investors could turn around and sell those calls for an average premium of $2.65 a-pop, or hold onto their positions in the hope that shares continue to rally in the next few months. Like-minded bulls picked up around 500 of the September $15 strike calls on Monday at an average premium of $0.85 each, while the last-traded price on the contract now stands at $2.35.…
AAPL-Bull Buys Call Spread
by Option Review - December 14th, 2009 4:26 pm
Today’s tickers: AAPL, GLD, XLU, AEP, CI, CHK, XEL, OSK, LLL, JAVA & BSX
AAPL – Apple, Inc. – A long-term bullish play on the iPod manufacturer suggests the price of the stock could skyrocket by July 2010. Apple’s shares increased more than 1% during the session to $196.96. It looks like one trader initiated a call spread in the July contract to position for a significant jump in the price of the underlying in the next seven months. The investor purchased 3,000 calls at the July 220 strike for a premium of 13.60 apiece, and sold the same number of calls at the higher July 250 strike for about 6.18 each. The net cost of the bullish play amounts to 7.42 per contract. AAPL’s shares must surge 15.5% from the current price in order to reach the breakeven point on the trade at $227.42. Maximum potential profits of 22.58 per contract are available to the investor if the stock jumps 27% to $250.00 by expiration in July.
GLD – SPDR Gold Trust ETF – A bullish risk reversal on the gold ETF today points to a rebound in gold bullion prices by expiration in February 2010. Shares of the GLD added nearly 1% during the trading day to stand at $110.23. One trader sold 9,650 puts at the February 110 strike for 4.70 each in order to partially finance the purchase of 9,650 calls at the same strike for 4.90 apiece. The net cost of the reversal amounts to just 20 cents per contract. Profits amass on the transaction if shares of the fund rally through the breakeven price of $110.20 by expiration day in February 2010.
XLU – SPDR Utilities Select Sector ETF – Shares of the exchange-traded fund comprised of common stocks of companies from the electric utilities, multi-utilities, independent power producers, energy traders and gas utility industries, increased 0.75% during the trading day to a new 52-week high of $32.08. The fresh high for the fund perhaps inspired the bullish options activity we observed on the XLU today. One investor banked profits on a previously established long call position in the January 2010 contract. The trader originally bought 5,000 calls at the January 29 strike for a premium of 92 cents apiece back on November 6, 2009, when shares were at $28.90. The investor sold the calls today for 2.95 apiece and took in net profits…
Option Traders Latch Onto Rambus Chatter
by Option Review - September 4th, 2009 5:52 pm
Today’s tickers: RMBS, BIIB, IYF, OSK, GNW, XOP & S
RMBS - The latest from the rumor mill suggests that the memory chip maker may be the target of a buyout by Samsung Electronics for approximately $25.00 to $27.50 per share. Some analysts reported that such rumors are likely unfounded, and we should note also this is currently idle market chatter. Nevertheless, frenzied options activity was observed on the stock amid a more than 8% rally to $17.22. Option traders concentrated their efforts on out-of-the-money calls in the near-term September contract. Nearly 6,000 calls were picked up at the September 18 strike for about 68 cents each. The higher September 19 strike had 5,000 calls purchased for an average of 47 cents apiece. Finally, the most bullish investors looked as high as the September 20 strike to gather up more than 8,000 calls for 37 cents per contract. Rumors remain unconfirmed, but traders holding the call options are positioned to bank some serious profits if the buyout speculation proves accurate by expiration this month. – Rambus Inc. –
BIIB - The largest maker of medicines for multiple sclerosis announced that it has extended an unsolicited takeover bid, worth $356 million in cash, for its drug partner Facet Biotech Corporation. Shares of BIIB rose more than 2% during the session to the current price of $51.03. Perhaps the takeover bid inspired the bullish reversal strategy we observed in the April contract today. One investor appears to have shed 10,000 puts at the April 35 strike price for a premium of 90 cents apiece in order to partially offset the cost of purchasing 5,000 calls at the higher April 55 strike for 3.80 each. The net cost of the transaction amounts to 2.00 per contract. The investor responsible for the trade will begin to accrue profits if shares of BIIB rally approximately 12% from the current price to breach the breakeven point at $57.00 by expiration day. – Biogen IDEC, Inc. –
IYF - Shares of the IYF have moved slightly higher during the session, gaining less than 0.5% to arrive at the current price of $50.09. The ETF jumped onto our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner this afternoon after a large bullish reversal play was initiated in the November contract. We note that the transaction was tied to stock. The investor responsible for the trade shed 20,000 puts at the November 40…
Alcoa Options Busy
by Option Review - August 3rd, 2009 4:22 pm
Today’s tickers: AA, KEY, EWZ, F, CBS, TCK & OSK
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
(