Bullish Options Strategist Tunes Into TiVo
by Option Review - March 8th, 2011 4:40 pm
Today’s tickers: TIVO, PCX, JDSU & ACN
TIVO - TiVo, Inc. – A sizable speculative bullish position was initiated in TiVo options today, though shares in the provider of digital video recording services fell as much as 5.85% at the start of the session to hit an intraday low of $8.53. The large four-legged transaction may be the work of an investor positioning for shares in the name to spike higher should the firm prevail in its legal battle regarding DVR technology against EchoStar and Dish Network. Results of the case are expected in the next couple of months. It looks like three of the four legs of the transaction were sold in order to offset the cost of getting long in-the-money calls expiring in August. The optimistic options player sold 10,000 puts at the August $7.0 strike for a premium of $1.01 each, shed 10,000 calls up at the August $15 strike at a premium of $0.52 apiece, and sold 10,000 calls at the May $20 strike for a premium of $0.06 per contract. The short legs of the trade were marked against the purchase of 10,000 in-the-money calls at the August $8.0 strike for a premium of $2.53 a-pop. Net premium paid to initiate the spread amounts to $0.94 per contract, and prepares the trader to profit should shares in TiVo rally 4.8% over today’s low point of $8.53 to surpass the breakeven price of $8.94 by August expiration. The investor could walk away with hefty maximum potential profits of $6.06 per contract in the event that TIVO’s shares jump 75.85% to trade above $15.00 in the time remaining to expiration. One observation worth mentioning is that the August contract call and put options represent fresh positioning given the tiny levels of previously existing open interest at each strike. But, the fourth leg of the trade, the May $20 strike calls, have more than 41,000 open positions. The trader could be rolling the calls out to the August contract, or closing…
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DiggAmphenol Corp. Calls in High Demand as Shares Rally to New Heights
by Option Review - February 1st, 2011 4:16 pm
Today’s tickers: APH, CAVM, PCX & RVBD
APH - Amphenol Corp. – Call options on the manufacturer of electrical, electronic and fiber optic connectors, interconnect systems and coaxial and specialty cable are in high demand this afternoon with shares trading up 3.2% to reach an all-time high of $57.10 by 12:25pm. Investors expecting Amphenol’s shares to continue to rise in the near term purchased in- and out-of-the-money call options in the February contract. More than 4,200 in-the-money calls changed hands at the February $55 strike on paltry previously existing open interest of 561 contracts. It looks like the majority of the calls were purchased for an average premium of $2.38 a-pop. Investors long the calls are poised to profit should shares in Amphenol Corp. surpass the average breakeven price of $57.38 ahead of February expiration. Bullish players looked up to the February $50 strike, as well, exchanging more than 1,400 calls at that strike on scant open interest of 10 contracts. Approximately 1,000 of the higher-strike call options traded on the ask for an average premium of $0.40 each. Traders purchasing the calls start to make money in the event that APH shares gain another 5.8% to exceed the average breakeven price of $60.40 before the contracts expire in a few weeks.
CAVM - Cavium Networks, Inc. – Shares in the provider of semiconductor processors shot up 14.7% in the first 15 minutes of the trading session to secure an intraday high of $45.35 following the firm’s better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings report released after the close of trading on Monday. Cavium also revealed its forecast for first-quarter profit is greater than that of Wall Street, which helped shares higher and spurred a number of analyst upgrades today. Although signs of optimism on CAVM abound, a more pessimistic view appears to be playing…
Bulls and Bears Appear at Patriot Coal Corp. Ahead of Earnings
by Option Review - January 24th, 2011 4:08 pm
Today’s tickers: PCX, RSH, SA & EK
PCX - Patriot Coal Corp. – Options traders are placing bullish and bearish bets on the coal company today with roughly one week remaining before the firm reports fourth-quarter earnings ahead of the opening bell next Tuesday. Shares in Patriot Coal are up 3.8% at $24.05 as of 12:10pm in New York. One bullish player hoping to see PCX shares gravitate toward the January 14, 2011, 52-week high of $27.35, initiated a near-term call spread. The investor picked up approximately 4,700 now in-the-money calls at the February $24 strike for an average premium of $1.58 each, and sold about the same number of calls at the higher February $27 strike at an average premium of $0.67 apiece. Net premium paid to establish the bullish spread amounts to $0.91 per contract. Thus, the trader starts to make money if Patriot’s shares rally another 3.6% over the current price of $24.05 to surpass the average breakeven price of $24.91 by February expiration. Maximum potential profits of $2.09 per contract are available to the investor should shares in PCX jump 12.3% to trade above $27.00 by expiration day next month. Out-of-the-money put options in the front month were also popular with Patriot players in the first half of the session. One options strategist with a more pessimistic view enacted a ratio put spread on the stock ahead of the earnings report. The trader purchased around 1,100 puts at the February $22 strike at an average premium of $1.21 each, and sold 2,200 puts at the lower February $20 strike for an average premium of $0.56 a-pop. The net cost of the ratio spread amounts to just $0.09 per contract. The investor responsible for the spread profits if PCX shares decline 8.9% to slip beneath the average breakeven price of $21.91, and may make up to $1.91 per contract should shares plunge 16.8% to settle at $20.00 at expiration day. The sale of twice as many lower-strike puts exposes the put player to losses in the event that Patriot Coal’s shares drop 24.8% to trade below the lower breakeven price of $18.09 before the contracts expire in February.…
F’ing Dip Thursdsay – Do We Buy It?
by Phil - January 20th, 2011 8:06 am
Just buy the f’ing dip.
That’s the great advice we had back on December 2nd, as it was pointed out by Captain Broccoli that we should just ignore all the so-called "facts" of the economy and "just borrow money at this ridiculous low interest rate and just buy the f’ing dip." "It’s not a pyramid scheme, you idiot," says the Captain – "It’s a dip buying scheme!" So far, on every little dip we have had since December 2nd – the Captain has had the winning strategy – do we dare ignore his sage advice today?
Yesterday we had the biggest pullback since November 23rd with the Russell and the SOX, two of our most over-extended indexes, falling 2.5% in a single day. The Russell essentially gave up an entire month’s worth of gains in a single day because, as I have warned you over and over and over until I myself was bored hearing it, it has been a low-volume rally and the pure physics of the situation means that, when people finally want to sell stocks, there aren’t enough buyers in the world to support the prices they have run up to.
The Shanghai, which we’ve been watching closely, dropped another 3% today to 4-month lows this morning. We did the chart of the Shanghai vs the Hang Seng on Friday, when I was droning on about how weak the real Global economy is and how dangerous inflation was looking and how the government was papering it all over, etc. Even so, I reminded Members in Chat that none of that reality mattered and we still had to buy the dips until it stopped working. Is today the day or have we finally reached the end of the gravy train?
We did some hedged buying on Friday with new long-term bullish trade ideas on AAPL, AET, BAC, GENZ and INTC (2) as well as shorter-term bullish trade ideas on CSTR (April) and ABX (quick 50% profit and done). We also had a short play on PCX (up huge already) and hedged with RKH Feb $85 puts at $1.15 (now $1.80, up 56%) and rolled our losing QID position in the $10,000 Virtual Portfolio to the Feb $10 calls at an average of $1.15 (now .90, down 22%). This is how we can be long-term bullish and short-term bearish. Buying the f’ing…
Options Strategists Take the Wheel at Ford Motor Co.
by Option Review - December 21st, 2010 4:10 pm
Today’s tickers: F, NKE, TSRA, PCX, STI, CSCO & SNDK
F - Ford Motor Co. – A couple of large-volume spreads initiated in longer-dated call and put options on the automaker caught our eye this afternoon. Shares in Ford Motor Company increased 0.90% this afternoon to stand at $17.00 in the final minutes of the trading day. It looks like one bullish player employed the use of a debit call spread in the April 2011 contract while a more cautious investor utilized a ratio put spread expiring in June of 2011. The options optimist picked up 10,000 calls at the April 2011 $17 strike for a premium of $1.25 each, and sold the same number of calls at the higher April 2011 $20 strike at a premium of $0.29 apiece, in order to position for continued bullish movement in the price of the car manufacturer’s shares. The trader paid a net premium of $0.96 per contract for the spread, and is positioned to make money should Ford’s shares rally another 5.6% over the current price of $17.00 to exceed the effective breakeven point at $17.96 by expiration day in April. Maximum potential profits of $2.04 per contract are available to the call-spreader if Ford’s shares jump 17.6% to first surpass the current 52-week high of $17.42 on the stock, and ultimately trade above $20.00 ahead of expiration. Further along in the June 2011 contract, another strategist dabbled in put options, perhaps as a way to hedge a long position in the underlying shares through the first half of 2011, or alternatively to bet on a pullback in Ford’s shares. It looks like the investor picked up 12,500 puts at the June $17 strike at a premium of $1.63 each, and sold 25,000 puts at the lower June 2011 $14 strike for a premium of $0.54 a-pop. The trader paid a net $0.55 per contract for the ratio spread and starts making money if Ford’s shares slip beneath the effective breakeven price of $16.45 ahead of June expiration. The investor may walk away with maximum potential profits of $2.45 per contract in the event that the automaker’s shares plunge 17.6% to settle at $14.00 at expiration day. Selling twice…
Put spreader portends near-term erosion in Energy fund’s shares
by Option Review - September 10th, 2010 8:29 am
Today’s tickers: XLE, CROX, COCO, PCX, EBAY, NTAP, MW, ARG & AXL
XLE – Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF – A massive put spread purchased on the XLE, an exchange-traded fund designed to correspond to the performance of the Energy Select Sector of the S&P 500 Index, points perhaps to one investor’s expectation that the price of the fund’s shares are set to decline ahead of September expiration day. Shares of the fund are currently up 0.40% at $54.06 as of 3:45 pm ET. It looks like the pessimistic player picked up approximately 40,000 puts at the September $53 strike for an average premium of $0.21 each, and sold about the same number of puts at the lower September $52 strike at an average premium of $0.44 a-pop. Net premium paid to purchase the spread amounts to $0.23 per contract. The investor responsible for the transaction stands ready to make money if shares of the XLE fall 2.4% from the current price of $54.06 to breach the effective breakeven point at $52.77 by expiration next Friday. Maximum potential profits of $0.77 per contract – for a total of $3,080 million – are available to the trader if the XLE’s shares drop 3.8% to slip beneath $52.00 by expiration day.
CROX – Crocs, Inc. – The footwear firm’s shares plunged 15.5% in afternoon trading to touch down at an intraday low of $11.68. Sharp share price erosion spurred put buying by options traders expecting the stock to continue lower ahead of October expiration. Investors purchased approximately 5,100 now in-the-money puts at the October $12 strike for an average premium of $0.85 each. Put players make money if shares fall another 4.5% from today’s low of $11.68 to breach the average breakeven point at $11.15 by expiration day next month. Options implied volatility on the shoe maker shot up 26.7% to 66.39% as of 3:40 pm ET.
COCO – Corinthian Colleges, Inc. – Shares in for-profit university, Corinthian Colleges, Inc., shot up 14.5% to an intraday high of $5.61 this morning on speculation the company may be acquired. Options traders were quick to initiate bullish stances on the stock in case the rumors end up having some truth to them. COCO’s shares cooled slightly in afternoon trading and are currently up 9.8% on the day to stand at $5.38 as of 2:50 pm ET. Speculators hoping to see shares continue higher picked…
Gold-Bull Buys Call Spread on Newmont Mining Corp.
by Option Review - March 2nd, 2010 4:15 pm
Today’s tickers: NEM, EWZ, ZION, JCP, PCX, TSL, NTRI, TIVO, SQNM & KR
NEM – Newmont Mining Corp. – Shares of the gold mining company are up 2.90% to $51.74 this afternoon as gold stocks across the board rallied along with the price of the previous metal. Newmont’s shares recovered significantly since reaching a low point for the year 2010 of $42.87 back on January 29, 2010. The current price per NEM share of $51.74 represents an impressive 20.65% rally over its January low of $42.87. One options trader populating our screens today expects the good times at Newmont Mining to continue through March expiration. The investor purchased a debit call spread by picking up 5,000 calls at the March $55 strike for a premium of $0.52 apiece, marked against the sale of 5,000 calls at the higher March $57.5 strike for $0.17 each. The net cost of the transaction amounts to $0.36 per contract. The trader is prepared to pocket maximum potential profits of $2.14 per contract should Newmont’s shares rally another 11.15% to $57.50 by expiration day. Shares of the underlying stock must increase at least 7% from the current price in order for the call-spreader to breakeven on the trade at $55.36 per share.
EWZ – iShares MSCI Brazil Index ETF – Bearish options positioning on the Brazil exchange-traded fund, which generally reflects the price and yield performance of securities in the Brazilian market as measured by the MSCI Brazil index, indicates one investor is bracing for a pull back in the price of the underlying shares by April expiration. Shares of the underlying fund are trading 1.85% higher to $70.97 with approximately forty-five minutes remaining in the session. The trader sold 10,000 calls at the April $72 strike for a premium of $2.55 apiece in order to partially offset the cost of purchasing 10,000 put options at the lower April $70 strike for $2.73 each. The investor paid a net premium of $0.18 per contract for the bearish risk reversal transaction. The pessimistic play yields profits to the trader if shares of the EWZ trade beneath the breakeven price of $69.82 ahead of expiration in April. We note that shares traded as low as $62.79 on February 8, 2010, and failed to rally above $70.00 until the current session’s breakout.
ZION – Zions Bancorp. – A bullish options player celebrated the 2.80% rally in ZION’s share…
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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...
Ilene is editor and affiliate program
coordinator for PSW. She manages the Favorites backup site
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