Weekly Wrap-Up – Why Does This Rally Give Me the Creeps?
by Phil - April 25th, 2010 8:29 am
I’m sorry, I am trying so hard to get bullish but it’s not working…
My only solution is to, as we often joke, switch off my brain and stop reading the news (listening to it is great as everything is coming up roses in TV-land) and ignore the now-exposed shenanigans on Wall Street (why should I worry about my investments just because the people running the game are up on fraud charges?) and for goodness sakes don’t even look at something as depressing as "The Economic Elite vs. the People of the United States of America," neither Parts 1-3 or Parts 4-6 because that can lead to thinking and thinking makes it REALLY hard to go to sleep at night with your money riding on the top of an 80% market while gold is trading at $1,150 an ounce because of overwhelming global instability and a total lack of faith in the global financial markets.
Yep, if we don’t think about all that stuff and focus on the good stuff, like the fact that Unemployment is only 3% for those of us who earn $150,000 a year (for the poor it’s 31%), and 93% of our virtually fully-employed analysts predict the S&P will finish the year even higher (although not too much higher) with only Andrew Garhwaite of Credit Suisse in need of an "attitude adjustment" with his puny target of 1,175, which is 32 points lower than Friday’s close. Fortunately, enlightened analysts like Deutsche Bank’s Binky Chad think we can still squeeze another 100 points out of this rally (about 10%) although Goldman Sachs is wimping out at 1,250, their partner in "whatever you want to call it", JP Morgan is up at 1,300. So it’s BUYBUYBUY from the gang of 12 and we’ll be whipping Andrew into shape by the next report or he may find himself the fall guy for the next scandal…
Oops, sorry, I wasn’t supposed to mention the scandals as that’s not really a buying premise unless of course you look at the sheer volume of things the IBanks were getting away with and then look at the virtual nothing that is being done about it and then we can conclude there is no reason they can’t pump this market back up to Dow 14,000 because we already know it was such total BS last time, when we dropped 50% like…
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DiggThursday’s Thrills – Greek Tragedies and Wall Street Worries
by Phil - April 22nd, 2010 8:28 am
Obama is coming to Wall Street.
The President will laying out his case for legislation at 11:55 to crack down on Wall Street with new regulations. "One of the most significant contributors to this recession was a financial crisis as dire as any we’ve known in generations," Obama will say, according to excerpts from his speech released by the White House. "And that crisis was born of a failure of responsibility — from Wall Street to Washington — that brought down many of the world’s largest financial firms and nearly dragged our economy into a second Great Depression. It is essential that we learn the lessons of this crisis, so we don’t doom ourselves to repeat it. And make no mistake, that is exactly what will happen if we allow this moment to pass — an outcome that is unacceptable to me and to the American people."
The President needs just one Republican vote (or two non-votes) to pass the 1,336-page Financial Reform Bill authored by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd which aims to bring new oversight to hedge funds and derivatives while cracking down on risky bank trading and to put in place protections for consumers of financial products. It will also establish a system for unwinding troubled financial companies to (theoretically) prevent a repeat of past catastrophes with BSC, LEH and AIG.
The House of Representatives approved a bill in December that called for the most sweeping regulatory changes since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The House bill embraced most of a comprehensive package of financial reform proposals introduced by Obama in 2009. The Senate version, if passed, would have to be reconciled in joint committee with the House before it goes to Obama for his signature and becomes law. Meanwhile, the IMF has a proposal on the table to tax bank balance sheets that some analysts suggest will cut pre-tax profits by as much as 20% if the measure moves forward
And speaking of catastrophes that need unwinding – Greece has sent the Pound and the Euro back to recent lows and has Europe down about a point as The EU says Greece’s budget deficit last year was worse than it previously forecast and could top 14 percent of gross domestic product as “off- market swaps” cloud its estimates. The EU’s statistics office said today Greece’s deficit was 13.6 percent last year, higher than the government’s…
Goldman Sachs Bulls and Bears Collide
by Phil - January 21st, 2010 5:13 pm
Today’s tickers: GS, WFT, FITB, NITE, USU, KFT, UNP, EBAY, SBUX & HOTT
GS – Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. – Near-term bears and bulls crossed paths in the February contract on global investment banking firm, Goldman Sachs Group, today. The past 48 hours have stirred up a plethora of concerning news for investors, most recently, President Obama’s call to limit the size and trading activity of large financial institutions, which pummeled the financial sector like a ton of bricks, dragging equities down across the board. Additionally, markets are still smarting from China’s reining in of monetary policy, which sent the US dollar up over the past couple of days. The VIX jumped yesterday and continues higher during the current session. The fear-gauge increased 19.67% today to an intraday high of 21.90 countering the declines in the S&P 500. Investors watched Goldman’s shares fall 4% to $161.07 this afternoon even though the firm earned $8.20 per share in the fourth-quarter, which blew right past average estimates of $5.19 a share. Frenzied options trading exploded on the financial institution with roughly 358,000 contracts exchanged on the stock by 2:50 pm (EDT). Bearish bets were plentiful, although there is also evidence of contrarian bullish plays, as well. Put options were purchased as low as the February $145 strike where 3,500 contracts were purchased for an average premium of $1.46 per contract. Shares are still 12.20% greater at the current level than the breakeven price on the puts at $143.54. The heaviest put trading occurred at the nearest to-the-money February $160 strike where more than 23,000 contracts changed hands. At least 8,100 of the contracts were purchased for $4.12 per contract. Contrarian players sold 2,300 puts at the February $135 strike to pocket an average premium of $0.93 each. Put sellers retain the full premium as long as Goldman’s shares trade above $135.00 through expiration next month. Some investors are looking right through the negative news and buying call options. Most notable is the 7,200 calls purchased at the February $165 strike for an average premium of $4.52 each. The stock must rebound back to $169.52 in order for call buyers to breakeven on their purchases. Other traders threw in the towel at the higher February $170 strike by selling at least 8,900 calls to receive an average premium of $3.02 per contract. Two-way trading traffic in GS options and investor uncertainty has lifted…
Testy Tuesday – Have the Markets Become Comfortably Numb?
by Phil - January 19th, 2010 8:08 am
"There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship’s smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re saying.
When I was a child
I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown,
The dream is gone.
but I have become comfortably numb." – Pink Floyd
I have a theory that the markets (and the American people in general) aren’t irrational, they are simply shell-shocked after suffering a very traumatic group financial experience…
To be shell-shocked is to be "mentally confused, upset, or exhausted as a result of excessive stress" and the most common symptoms are: Fatigue, slower reaction times, indecision, disconnection from one’s surroundings, and inability to prioritize – That certainly sounds like our Congress doesn’t it? Combat stress disorder was first diagnosed in WWI, when 10% of the troops were killed and 56% wounded – far worse than had been experienced in previous wars. Our current financial crisis has similarly affected more people than any previous crisis with almost everyone knowing someone who is bankrupt or lost their jobs or homes and almost no one escaped the carnage of the downturn without some financial damage.
Combat fatigue may go a long way to explaining the severe drop-off in volume that has plagued the markets since March, with participation now down to 25% of where we were last January and that leaves us open to the blatant sort of market manipulation that Karl Denninger caught last week as well as the usual nonsense we get daily from HFT programs that drive the market with such precision that we are able to tell how the day is going to go by simply checking our hourly volume targets. Here’s a clip from CNBC where a floor trader discusses market manipulation as a fact of trading (2 mins in).
As Nicholas Santiago points out on In The Money Stocks, "January is usually a very high volume month, yet it has started off the New Year even lighter than the last two months of 2009. Light volume markets are very difficult to short. Hence the old saying, ‘never short a dull market’." Not only is the market volume…
Bears Bombard Biopharm Firm MannKind, Again
by Option Review - December 22nd, 2009 4:30 pm
Today’s tickers: MNKD, SKX, FXI, SBUX, VIX, ACOR, NFLX, AMR & UAUA
MNKD – Mannkind Corp. – Stop, hey, what’s that sound? Everybody look what’s going down…We reported bearish options activity on biopharmaceutical company, MannKind Corp., yesterday as investors shed call options and enacted pessimistic plays on the stock. Lo-and-behold, MannKind’s shares plummeted today, falling 20% at times during the trading session to an intraday low of $7.52. News that its inhaled insulin drug, Afresa, could encounter delays at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration incensed investor uncertainty regarding the fate of MNKD’s share price. Option implied volatility jumped 43.61% during the trading day from an intraday low of 116.96% up to the current reading of 167.97%. Frenzied bearish option traders populating the stock today are probably kicking themselves for not acting 24 hour earlier. One investor initiated a put spread today by purchasing 2,000 puts at the February 7.5 strike for an average premium of 1.79 apiece, spread against the sale of 2,000 puts at the lower February 5.0 strike for 64 cents premium each. The net cost of the transaction amounts to 1.15 per contract. Call selling is apparent at the February 10 strike where 1,300 calls sold for 1.21 each. Investors shed 1,200 calls at the higher February 12.5 strike to take in 73 cents premium per contract. Finally, a bearish risk reversal graced the May 2010 contract. It looks like one trader sold 1,250 calls at the May 10 strike for 2.15 apiece in order to partially finance the purchase of the same number of put options at the May 7.5 strike for 3.30 each. The net cost of the put options amounts to 1.15 per contract and yields profits to the downside beneath the breakeven point at $6.35. MNKD’s shares must fall at least 15.5% from today’s low of $7.52 before the investor responsible for the reversal play breaks even on the trade.
SKX – Sketchers USA, Inc. – Fashion footwear manufacturer, Sketchers, received a vote of confidence by one option trader today who initiated a bullish risk reversal in the February contract. The investor implemented the optimistic strategy despite the 0.5% decline in SKX shares to $28.60. It looks like the trader sold 1,800 in-the-money puts at the February 30 strike for 3.00 apiece in order to finance the purchase of 1,800 out-of-the-money calls at the same strike for 2.00 each. The investor receives…
Commodity Reversal Sees Bulls Charging in Potash
by Option Review - August 19th, 2009 5:50 pm
Today’s tickers: POT, LVS, WYE, TGT, WMT, HGSI, AXL, SBUX & GDX
POT – Shares of the fertilizer and feed products company have rallied 2.5% during the trading session to arrive at the current price of $96.06. Bullish investors rushed in to establish optimistic positions on the stock. A bullish reversal play was established in the near-term September contract by a trader anticipating significant gains by expiration. The reversal involved the sale of 10,000 puts at the September 80 strike price for 75 cents each, which were employed to finance the purchase of 10,000 calls at the higher September 105 strike for 1.80 apiece. The net cost of the trade amounts to 1.05 per contract. The investor responsible for the transaction will begin to amass profits if shares of POT surge approximately 10% through the breakeven price of $106.05 by expiration. Bullish sentiment spread to the December contract where it appears that another trader shed puts to finance the purchase of bull call spread. The December 90 strike had about 2,000 puts shed for 7.90 apiece. Premium received on the sale was put toward the purchase of 2,000 calls at the December 100 strike for 9.25 each, which was offset by the sale of 2,000 calls at the higher December 130 strike for 2.15 per contract. The investor received an 80 cent credit for his trouble and stands ready to add to his gains if shares breach $100.00 by expiration. – Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Inc. –
LVS - Profit taking in the January 2011 contract caught our attention this afternoon after one investor “made it big” by utilizing call options on the casino operator. Shares of LVS had attained upward gains earlier in the trading day but are currently lower by more than 0.5% to $12.81. It appears that the trader originally purchased 20,000 calls at the January 15 strike price for 1.70 apiece back on July 9, 2009 when shares closed at $7.42. At that time implied options volatility read 97%. Today he sold the lots to close out the position for 4.35 per contract. If this is indeed what took place, he will have banked gains of 2.65 per contract for a grand total of $5,300,000. This assumes no attached interest in the underlying shares. Implied option volatility has declined during this time to stand at 87% today, negatively impacting the premium of these options, which likely helps…
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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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