UnitedHealth Bulls Have a Fever – the Only Prescription is More Call Options

by Andrew Wilkinson - March 16th, 2010 4:20 pm

Today’s tickers: UNH, BZH, WFC, GE, XLB, WMT, BAC, COF, HOG, ETFC & STJ

UNH - UnitedHealth Group, Inc. – Health and well-being company, UnitedHealth Group, commenced the trading session in the red after Goldman Sachs Group removed the firm from its ‘Conviction Buy List’. However, UNH is still rated as a ‘buy’ at Goldman, and the company’s shares recovered this afternoon to stand 0.60% higher at $32.73. A fire-storm of bullish activity descended on UnitedHealth during the middle of the trading day. Investors gobbled up April contract call options perhaps to position for continued bullish movement in the price of the underlying shares. Options players purchased 42,600 call options at the April $34 strike for an average premium of $0.87 per contract. More than 50,000 calls changed hands at that strike, which blows the 4,333 contracts of open interest at that strike right out of the water. Investors long the calls are positioned to amass profits should UNH’s shares rally another 6.5% to breach the breakeven price of $34.87 by April expiration. Wild-and-crazy options activity on the stock lifted the overall reading of options implied volatility 5% to 43.06% as of 2:05 pm (ET).

BZH - Beazer Homes USA, Inc. – Single- and multi-family homebuilding company, Beazer Homes USA, attracted bullish options players today amid a 4.65% rally in its share price to $4.95. Beazer was upgraded to a ‘buy’ rating and a target share price of $6.25 at Citigroup yesterday. Plain-vanilla call buying took place at the near-term March $5.0 strike where investor picked up 2,100 contracts for an average premium of $0.14 apiece. Investors long these contracts are hoping Beazer’s shares rally another 4.25% from the current price to surpass the effective breakeven point at $5.14 ahead of expiration on Friday. Optimism spread to the April $5.0 strike as traders coveted 2,200 calls for an average premium of $0.32 per contract. Call-buyers in the April contract profit if shares jump 8% and trade above the breakeven price of $5.32 by expiration day next month. The surge in investor demand for options on Beazer Homes lifted the overall reading of options implied volatility on the stock 15.8% to 61.92% this afternoon.

WFC - Wells Fargo & Co. – The bank holding company’s shares increased more than 0.65% during the session to $30.09, inspiring bullish options activity on the stock. Investors positioning for a continued rally in the price of the underlying shares purchased nearly…

Tags: BAC, BZH, COF, ETFC, GE, HOG, STJ, UNH, WFC, WMT, XLB

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Option Bulls Buy Calls to Celebrate New Coverage of NuVasive Spinal Treatment

by Andrew Wilkinson - February 26th, 2010 5:49 pm

Today’s tickers: NUVA, TRE, FXE, BBY, DECK, LEN, AA, ESRX, JDSU & UNH

NUVA - NuVasive Inc. – The spinal surgery equipment maker’s shares are up sharply today by more than 32.50% to $39.38. NuVasive’s shares surged on news health insurance company, Aetna, is changing its policy to allow reimbursement for surgical spine treatment know as lateral interbody fusion. Bullish posturing in call options was observed today following the news about extended coverage for the treatment, which was previously excluded for being an experimental procedure. Plain-vanilla call buyers picked up nearly 2,000 contracts at the March $40 strike for an average premium of $1.34 apiece. Investors long the calls are prepared to pocket profits if NUVA’s shares rally above the effective breakeven point on the calls at $41.34 by expiration day next month.

TRE - Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corp. – British Columbia, Canada-based gold mining company, Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corp., attracted heavier than usual two-way trading traffic in put options today. The firm, which explores and acquires gold properties in Tanzania, realized a 2.30% rally in its shares during the session to $4.05. More than 25,000 in-the-money put options changed hands at the October $5 strike with the majority of the volume trading to the bid. Approximately 14,200 puts were sold for an average premium of $1.31 per contract, while 5,200 put contracts were purchased at that strike for roughly the same amount of premium. In-the-money put sellers are perhaps anticipating continued bullish movement in the price of the underlying by October expiration. Investors short the puts keep the full $1.31 premium per contract if TRE’s shares rally above $5.00 by expiration day. Put sellers stand ready to have shares of the underlying stock put to them at an effective price of $3.69 apiece in the event that the put contracts remain in-the-money through expiration day.

FXE - CurrencyShares Euro Trust – Shares of the FXE exchange-traded fund, which reflects the price of the Euro, are up 0.45% to $135.88 in afternoon trading. A decent-sized put butterfly spread on the fund indicates one investor does not expect the current rally to continue. On the contrary, the parameters of the spread benefit the trader most if shares decrease roughly 2.25% in value by April expiration. To enact the bearish butterfly play, the investor purchased 5,000 puts at the April $134 strike for a premium of $1.50 apiece [wing 1], and picked up 5,000 puts at the lower…

Tags: AA, BBY, DECK, ESRX, FXE, JDSU, LEN, NUVA, TRE, UNH

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Bullish Bedlam on UnitedHealth in Late-Day Trading

by Andrew Wilkinson - December 16th, 2009 4:04 pm

Today’s tickers: UNH, F, EZCH, FBP, XOP, F, BMY, KFT, UNT, TIVO, ADBE & AMED

UNH - UnitedHealth Group, Inc. – Bullish investors stampeded the health and well-being company in late afternoon trading with shares up 3% to a new 52-week high of $32.25. Frenzied call activity on the stock drove option implied volatility up sharply by 19.5% to 45.17% from an intraday low of 37.37%. One investor was ready for the rally today, and banked profits on a previously established call position. The trader likely purchased about 20,000 calls at the now deep in-the-money December 23 strike price for a maximum premium of 3.00 per contract back on October 8, 2009, when UNH shares were at $24.13. Today the trader sold the calls for an average premium of 8.95 each. It looks like the investor took in net profits on the sale of at least 5.95 per contract for a total of $11.9 million. Next, it appears the trader extended bullish sentiment on the stock by establishing a larger call position. A big chunk of 30,000 calls were picked up at the now in-the-money January 31 strike for an average premium of 2.20 each. Thus, the trader breaks even on the new position if shares surpass $33.20 by expiration next month. Other bullish traders initiated call spreads on the stock. One UNH-bull bought 5,000 calls at the in-the-money January 31 strike for about 2.12 apiece, and sold the same number of calls at the higher January 34 strike for 70 cents premium each. The net cost of the spread amounts to 1.42 per contract and yields maximum potential profits of 1.58 apiece if shares rally up to $34.00 by January’s expiration day.

F - Ford Motor Co. – A late afternoon, large-volume put spread on the U.S. automaker is likely the work of an investor locking in gains enjoyed during Ford’s recent share price rally. Shares reached a new 52-week high of $9.64 during the trading session. The option trader looked to the March 2010 contract to purchase 18,000 puts at the March 9.0 strike for 62 cents apiece, spread against the sale of the same number of puts at the lower March 7.0 strike for 16 cents premium each. The net cost of the protective play amounts to 46 cents per contract. If the investor is indeed holding a long position in the underlying, the value of that position is secure in…

Tags: ADBE, AMED, BMY, EZCH, F, FBP, KFT, TIVO, UNH, UNT, XOP

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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…

Tags: DE, EWZ, GLD, HNZ, MGM, NWL, OSTK, STEC, UNH, UUP, XRT

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Stock Market Crash - Year One Review III - March Madness!

by Phil - September 10th, 2009 5:51 pm

We left off in Part II with our Feb 23rd Big Chart Review.

Even though I said: "Once again we are in a market that environment that reminds me of the Simpsons episode where Homer jumps over a gorge, crashes, is taken up by a helicopter (Ben) smashing against the wall along the way only to fall all the way from the top again.  Pain, pain and more pain every time we try to get long" - we still weren’t fully prepared for the devastation that was to follow as the Dow fell from 7,500 to 6,500 in the next 10 days.  My commentary on the environment the next day was: 

According to Cap, someone on the YHOO message board was counting the number of times CNBC talking heads said "nationalization" this morning and, as of 8:15, they were up to 300 times.  Sadly, this is the fear-mongering that is driving the markets to new lows while Cramer continues to keep his sheeple out of protective ETFs like SKF.  So you have the man’s network telling you financials are going to zero while dog and pony boy tells his minions to sell ALL the financials, causing them to go to zero - even though they could hold on and protect themselves with conta-funds, if Cramer didn’t spend 3 days a week convincing his viewers contra-funds are poison.  I’ve never seen anything like this outside of a racketerring investigation.  Speaking of racketeering - Dennis Kucinich nailed it when he pinned that charge on Paulson and company back in November.

Our wall of worry continues to be a steep one.  After yesterday’s failure we do not expect too much out of today, we’ll be happy to just see a bottom at this point but it’s looking a little more likely that we’re heading into a capitulation event that can take us down to frightening levels.  The 60% line is a line the markets dare not cross but, as I pointed out yesterday, we already lost the SOX and the Nikkei, with the Hang Seng and the BSE hanging on by a thread.  Let’s take these levels very seriously, if the administration can’t turn it around this week - the downward momentum can easily pick up steam.

I’ll spare you the details other than to say we DIDN’T turn it around that week and the downward momentum DID pick up steam.  I was at war with Cramer at the time as he was blatantly ripping off my ideas and trying…

Tags: AIG, AMZN, BAC, CY, DIS, F, FAS, GE, GOOG, HCBK, IP, IWM, JPM, RKH, SKF, TGT, UNH, VNO, WFC, X

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Ratio Call Spread Suggests Bullish Sentiment on Cabot Oil & Gas

by Andrew Wilkinson - August 17th, 2009 5:53 pm

Today’s tickers: COG, HPQ, ALGN, VIX, WLP, UNH, CVX, & OIH

COGThe oil and gas company appeared on our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner after a ratio call spread was established in the September contract. Broad market declines did not spare COG today as shares fell nearly 4% to stand to the current price of $33.75. The bullish investor responsible for the spread looked to the deep in-the-money September 30 strike price to purchase 3,000 calls for an average premium of 4.15 apiece. The long calls were marked against the short sale of 6,000 calls at the higher September 35 strike for 1.15 per contract. Thus, the net cost of the spread amounts to 1.85 and yields maximum potential profits of 3.15 if COG rallies up to $35.00 by expiration next month. The investor has already realized profits on the transaction because shares are currently higher than the breakeven point at $31.85. But, the ratio of 2 short calls for each long call leaves the trader vulnerable to potentially unlimited losses in the event that shares of COG surge higher than $38.15 by expiration. – Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. –

HPQThe global technology company has experienced a more than 1.5% decline in shares today to $43.26 ahead of its third-quarter earnings release, which is scheduled to follow the closing bell on Tuesday afternoon. At least one investor was seen bracing for bad news or at least for continued declines in the price of the underlying. The trader established a ratio put position by purchasing 5,000 puts at the August 42.5 strike for approximately 89 cents apiece, spread against the sale of 10,000 puts at the lower August 40 strike for 25 cents per contract. The net cost of the bearish transaction amounts to 39 cents and yields maximum potential profits of 2.11 if the stock slips to $40.00 by expiration this Friday. Shares must fall about 3% from the current price in order for the trader to begin to amass profits beneath the breakeven point at $42.11. Maximum profits of $1,055,000 will be retained by the investor if the stock falls to $40.00 and the lower strike puts remain out-of-the-money. If shares were to slip lower than $40.00, the trader may have shares of the underlying put to him at expiration given the ratio of 2 short put options to each long contract in his possession. Investor uncertainty has marched steadily…

Tags: ALGN, COG, CVX, HPQ, OIH, UNH, VIX, WLP

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Lexmark Call Buyers Out In Force

by Andrew Wilkinson - July 14th, 2009 4:16 pm

Today’s tickers: LXK, EEM, MT, VIX, HUM, IPI, MIR & UNH

LXK – The world’s fifth-largest printer and toner seller announced that printers with internet connectivity and programmable software will be available in September. Shares of LXK have enjoyed an approximate rally of 2% to $18.13. Investor’s bullish on LXK concentrated their interest in call options on the stock today. The now in-the-money August 17.5 strike price had about 1,700 calls picked up for an average premium of 1.25 apiece. Investors long of these calls are hoping shares of LXK will rise 3% from the current price to surpass the breakeven point at $18.75. Traders who are looking for an even sharper rally bought 2,000 calls at the higher August 20 strike for 35 cents per contract. Shares would need to climb higher by 12% before traders breakeven at a price of $20.35. Option implied volatility surged to 52% on the stock, up from yesterday’s reading of about 46%. – Lexmark International, Inc.

EEM– Shares of the emerging markets fund have climbed approximately 1% to stand at $31.40. The spread of a massive number of put options between the July and August contracts caught our attention today as one investor looks to be taking a bearish stance on the exchange-traded fund. It appears that some 73,000 puts were sold at the July 31 strike price for an average premium of 37 cents apiece and spread against the purchase of 73,000 puts at the lower August 30 strike for 1.07 each. The net cost of the calendar spread amounts to 70 cents to the party responsible for the transaction. Shares of EEM would need to decline by about 7% before the investor begins to garner profits at the breakeven point to the downside at $29.30. – iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index

MT– The steel producer attracted the attention of bearish traders today amid a very slight dip in shares by less than 0.5% to $30.84. The near-term July 30 strike price saw the short sale of approximately 3,100 in-the-money calls for a premium of 1.30 per contract. Given the high degree of risk inherent in uncovered call selling, it would seem that the investors responsible for writing the calls expect shares of MT to fall below $30.00 by expiration. The full 1.30 premium received for the sale will be retained as long as the call options land out-of-the-money by this coming Friday. Additional bearishness was observed…

Tags: EEM, HUM, IPI, LXK, MIR, MT, UNH, VIX

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Costco Puts Busy

by Andrew Wilkinson - June 18th, 2009 6:38 pm

Today’s tickers: COST, HRB, UNH, EEM, EWZ, XLE, DELL & RIMM

COST – July 45 strike puts are attracting traders today where 17,700 contracts have so far been traded with premiums reaching 1.30 by this afternoon. Shares in the company are lower but not by much at $46.27, but that’s been enough to boost put premiums by 30% today. Notable is the fact that this bearish strike is home to around 20,000 established bear plays. Not quite sure why the bearish tack for the retailer today, but options activity is certainly active. – Costco Wholesale Corp.

HRB – The financial services provider jumped onto our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner this afternoon after one option player took a bullish stance on the firm. Shares of HRB have rallied approximately 1.25% to $15.49. Hoping for continued upward movement in the stock through expiration in October, the trader was seen selling 5,000 puts at the October 15 strike price for a premium of 1.20 apiece. It appears that he then purchased 5,000 calls at the higher October 16 strike price for 1.15 per contract. The trader receives a credit of one nickel per option contract and is looking for shares to rally through the breakeven point at $16.05 by expiration in four months time. Risk is of a share price decline through $13.80. – H&R Block, Inc.

UNH – Shares have rallied more than 4% to $25.03 today, prompting one investor to look for continued bullish movement in the stock through expiration in July. The trader initiated a ratio call spread by purchasing 7,500 now in-the-money July 24 strike calls for a premium of 2.15 apiece spread against the sale of 15,000 calls at the higher July 27 strike for an average premium of 70 cents each. The net cost of the optimistic play amounts to 75 cents and yields maximum potential profits to the investor of 2.25 per contract if shares can surge to $27.00 by expiration. Given the current price of the underlying, this individual has already surpassed the breakeven point on the trade at $24.75 and has realized gains of approximately 28 cents. – UnitedHealth Group, Inc.

EEM– We observed one investor who expects little price movement in shares of the emerging markets ETF through expiration in July. Shares of the fund are currently higher by less than 0.5% to $31.75. This individual established a sold straddle at the July 31 strike price by selling 20,000 calls…

Tags: COST, DELL, EEM, EWZ, HRB, RIMM, UNH, XLE

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Where Did All the Volatility Go?

by Andrew Wilkinson - June 11th, 2009 4:36 pm

Today’s tickers: VIX, EEM, XLU, EWT, AA, ESLR, UNH, HOT & DE

VIX– Summer’s here – you can tell by the fact that volatility is on the wane again that investors are winding down for the summer season. The market’s fear gauge has slipped back again and stands at a level not seen since last September. Today the VIX is trading at 27.45 as most investors see less need to pay higher premiums for protective strategies. Meanwhile, signs of recovery have created the impression that a market rally might feed on itself and has prompted many investors to write options recently. There hope is that as implied volatility erodes the fact that premiums will deflate would afford profits by buying those same options back later. However, the noise coming out of the Chicago Board Options Exchange today is over a July call spread using VIX options that relies on a market swan dive over the coming 41 days before it would earn profits. One trader spent an $850,000 premium on buying 20,000 July calls at the 45 strike while selling the same amount of 55 strike calls, thus lowering the overall premium to 42.5 cents. The VIX hasn’t traded above 40 since April 21 and we’re wondering what this guy knows that no one else does. – CBOE Volatility index

EEM– Shares of the emerging markets ETF have rallied more than 2.5% today to $34.47. The fund has enjoyed a nice run up over the past four months, gaining more than 72% since March 2, 2009, when shares were trading at $19.95. A trade observed in the September contract indicates that at least one investor is crossing his fingers for continued bullish movement in the stock through expiration in September. The trader targeted the now in-the-money September 34 strike price and sold 10,000 puts for 3.10 apiece in order to finance the purchase of 10,000 calls for 2.77 a pop. The investor receives a credit of 33 cents for the transaction. He will add to today’s profits if the EEM can continue to climb higher. – iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF

XLU – The utilities ETF has experienced a more than 2.5% increase in shares to $28.02. The XLU ticker symbol jumped onto our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner after one investor sunk his teeth into a chunk of put options in the September contract. The trader appears to have purchased…

Tags: AA, DE, EEM, ESLR, EWT, HOT, UNH, VIX, XLU

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Bull foresees healthy rally for UnitedHealth Group

by Phil - June 8th, 2009 6:04 pm

Today’s tickers: UNH, USO, MNKD, POT, X, MCD, PALM, S & JPM

UNH – The diversified health and well-being company has experienced a share price decline of 3.5% to $26.12. Despite the erosion in the price of the stock today we noticed a bullish play in the July contract. One investor looks to have sold 10,000 puts at the July 24 strike price for a premium of a dollar apiece in order to finance the purchase of 10,000 calls at the higher July 27 strike for 1.36 each. The net cost of the transaction amounts to 36 cents and yields a breakeven point at $27.36. In order to profit by expiration, shares of UNH would need to rally by approximately 5%. – UnitedHealth Group, Inc.

USO – Shares have remained relatively flat today at $37.37 and we observed a mixture of bullish and bearish plays on the fund. Bullishness came in the form of a calendar spread initiated by one investor looking for significant upside on the stock by expiration in October. The spread involved the sale of 10,000 calls at the in-the-money July 37 strike price for 2.45 apiece against the purchase of 10,000 calls at the higher October 42 strike for 2.25 per contract. The trader looks to have originally bought the calls at the July 37 strike on May 28th for an average premium of 1.90 each. Today he reeled in profits of 55 cents by selling the calls for 2.45. He was effectively able to reduce the cost of rolling his position forward to the October 42 strike to just 1.70 apiece. This individual will amass profits on the bullish stance if shares can rally 17% to the breakeven point at $43.70 by expiration. In contrast to such medium-term bullishness, another trader took a bearish stance in the nearer-term July contract. This individual looks to have sold 2,000 calls at the July 38 strike price for 1.85 each in order to purchase 2,000 puts at the same July 38 strike for a premium of 2.50. The net cost of shedding calls to get long of puts amounts to 65 cents and yields a breakeven point to the downside at $37.35. Shares of the USO would need to fall more than 2 cents from the current price in order for this bear to begin to amass profits on the reversal. – United States Oil Fund LP

MNKD – The biopharmaceutical company’s shares have rallied…

Tags: JPM, MCD, MNKD, PALM, POT, S, UNH, USO, X

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