Options Traders Don Aeropostale Options Ahead of Earnings
by Option Review - May 18th, 2011 4:05 pm
Today’s tickers: ARO, HSY, QLGC & HEK
ARO - Aeropostale, Inc. – Investors are initiating bullish positions on the teen retailer ahead of the company’s first-quarter earnings report on Thursday after the close. Shares in Aeropostale are up 1.25% at $21.41 as of 11:50am, rallying in sympathy with teen apparel company Abercrombie & Fitch Co. following ANF’s better-than-expected earnings report. One options strategist expecting Aeropostale’s shares to extend gains over the next few months sold 9,900 puts at the July $19 strike for a premium of $0.40 each, and purchased the same number of calls up at the higher July $23 strike at a premium of $0.75 apiece. Net premium paid to initiate the bullish play amounts to $0.35 per contract. The trader responsible for the transaction profits at expiration as long as shares in ARO surge 9.1% over the current price of $21.41 to exceed the effective breakeven price of $23.35. Of course, the investor could unravel the position ahead of expiration. He could exit the trade profitably should some catalyst – such as an earnings surprise to the upside – send shares and call premium higher, and put premium lower. The short stance in put options suggests the trader is willing to have shares put to him at $19.00 should the puts land in-the-money at expiration. While the investor runs the risk of having the stock put to him at expiration, it seems the financing received to reduce the cost of buying the calls is worth this risk as ARO’s shares have not traded beneath $19.00 since April 2009. Meanwhile, other bullish players engaged in plain-vanilla call buying, picking up some 3,200 calls at the July $26 strike for an average premium of $0.20 per contract. Call buyers make money if shares in Aeropostale jump 22.4% to top the average breakeven price of $26.20 at expiration in July. The clothing company’s shares were up above $26.20 as recently as April 21, 2011.…
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DiggCovered-Call Sellers Make Note of Exits on American Airlines Parent Corp.
by Option Review - March 9th, 2010 4:14 pm
Today’s tickers: AMR, AIG, C, GME, HD, XLP, ALL, CMC, QLGC & YUM
AMR – AMR Corp. – Bullish investors engaged in covered-call selling on AMR Corporation this afternoon after its subsidiary, American Airlines, revealed February passenger unit revenue increased between 6.5% to 7.5% as compared to roughly the same time a year ago. The so-called buy-write strategy took off amid an 11% rally in the price of the underlying stock to $9.93. Options traders sold approximately 16,300 calls at the March $11 strike for an average premium of $0.09 apiece, and simultaneously purchased an equivalent number of AMR-shares when the stock was trading at approximately $9.84 each. The net price paid per AMR-share amounts to $9.75 apiece because of the $0.09 per contract financing provided by the sale of the call options. Investors utilizing the buy-write strategy are positioned to accumulate maximum potential gains of 12.82% if shares rally through $11.00 by expiration day. The covered-calls provide an effective exit strategy for investors, who walk away with 12.82% profits if AMR shares rally to $11.00, and if the underlying shares are called from them at expiration.
AIG – American International Group, Inc. – Insurance firm, American International Group, already reported plans to sell two units for $51 billion, but speculation that it may sell additional assets sparked rampant options trading activity on the stock this afternoon. Shares surged more than 18% to $34.34 at times during afternoon trading. Options investors exchanged more than 224,000 contacts on AIG as of 2:30 pm (ET), and traded more than two call options on the stock for each single put option in play. Two-way trading traffic in out-of-the-money call options is evident, but it looks like – in most cases – more calls are being purchased than sold. The nearest-to-the-money March $35 strike had more than 37,000 calls trade today versus that strike’s previous existing open interest of just 12,297 contracts. More than 12,300 calls were purchased for an average premium of $0.89 apiece. The higher March $40 strike had 12,900 calls picked up by bullish individuals who paid an average $0.25 premium per contract. Finally, the March $45 strike attracted buying interest in the amount of 3,200 calls for an average premium of $0.18 each. More than 7,000 contracts changed hands at the March $45 strike, which trumps existing open interest of just 2,489 lots. It is likely that a large portion…
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…
Market bullish, options bearish
by Option Review - April 29th, 2009 4:17 pm
Today’s tickers: XLI, XLY, DELL, CAT, XLF, AET, AN, EWT, SLAB, QLGC, BYD & INTC
XLI Industrial Select Sector SPDR – The industrials ETF attracted massive amounts of downside protection by investors fearing a near-term contraction in shares of the fund. The price per share is currently up by 3% to $23.19 on the day following broader market gains experienced today. However, traders have enacted a decidedly bearish position on the fund in the near-term May contract. At the May 19 strike price more than 65,100 puts were purchased for an average premium of 17 cents apiece. These option contracts will begin to yield profits to the downside beginning at the breakeven share price of $18.83. Further along, the in-the-money June 23 strike price saw traders who were likely banking gains on the rise in shares today by selling approximately 27,000 calls for an average premium of 65 cents per contract.
XLY Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR – The consumer discretionary ETF jumped onto our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner after investors bought a huge chunk of puts in the near-term May contract. Shares have rallied by 4% to $21.80 today, creating lesser cost premiums on put options. At the May 20 strike price approximately 58,100 puts were picked up for an average premium of 18 cents apiece. Investors have certainly appeared to brace themselves for bearish movements in the fund. Fleshing out the pessimistic picture was the sale of 2,290 calls at the May 23 strike for 82 cents which indicates that traders do not see today’s rally stemming too much further, particularly in the near-term.
DELL Dell Inc. – The just-in-time manufacturer of personal computers has rallied by more than 4% to $11.35 amid broad market gains today. We observed one trader who appears to have established a covered call in the January 2010 contract. It is likely that this investor bought shares of the underlying stock today or was already long the stock previously, and then sold 24,500 calls at the January 12.5 strike price for a premium of 1.50 each. The trader pockets the 1.50 premium and has locked into gains of 10% on the rise in share price should the calls land in-the-money and the underlying stock get called from him at expiration next year.
CAT Caterpillar, Inc. – Shares of CAT have rallied by more than 3.5% today to arrive at…
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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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