Talbots Put Options in Fashion with Bearish Players
by Option Review - January 4th, 2011 4:57 pm
Today’s tickers: TLB, PFCB, VZ, NDAQ, MTL & HSNI
TLB - Talbots, Inc. – Bearish traders donning Talbots put options this afternoon appear to be positioning for shares of the women’s apparel, shoes and accessories manufacturer to continue falling in the next couple of months. The clothing maker’s shares are down 5.05% in the final minutes of the trading day to stand at $8.08. TLB was cut to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ with a $10.00 share price target at Jefferies on Monday. Talbots’ February $7.0 strike put options are the most active today, with more than 6,000 contracts having changed hands at that strike ahead of the closing bell, versus previously existing open interest of 644 lots. Nearly all of the put options were purchased at that strike for an average premium of $0.19 each. Put buyers make money if TLB’s shares drop another 15.7% to trade below the average breakeven point at $6.81 by February expiration day. Longer-term bearish traders tried on May $7.0 strike put options for size, buying some 1,300 contracts for an average premium of $0.59 apiece. Talbots’ overall reading of options implied volatility ended the session 13.2% higher on the day at 52.01%.
PFCB - P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Inc. – Put options are flying out of the kitchen at P.F. Chang’s this afternoon with shares of the Asian-inspired restaurant chain operator slipping 2.50% lower to $47.44 in the final 30 minutes of the session. Investor appetite for bearish put contracts follows reports out on Monday from the National Restaurant Association noting that, for the first time in three months, restaurant operators reported net declines in same-store sales and customer traffic levels in the month of November. Approximately 5,500 puts changed hands at the February $45 strike today versus paltry previously existing open interest of just 111 contracts at that strike. Volume in February $45 strike puts represents roughly 53% of the 10,415 lots of overall previously existing open interest on the restaurant operator. It looks like investors satisfied bearish outlook on…
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DiggWeekend Reading – Reviewing the Reviews
by Phil - January 1st, 2011 8:28 am
I am still trying to get more bullish.
I was thinking about writing something cute like I resolve to get more bullish but that would be wrong. I try, in my own humble way, to "get" the market right. That means I am not bullish or bearish but Truthish (to further botch Stephen Colbert’s use of the word) and, as Buddah says: "There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting." Confucious reminds us that there are three methods by which we may learn wisdom: "First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest."
In that spirit, we will spend the day in reflection so that we are better able to start on that long road to the truth so that we will be better able to imitate the things that will work in the year to come while trying to avoid making mistakes that will give us bitter experiences.
This post is not about me – We had a fantastic year and I’ve already given some outlook for 2011 back on the 19th in that weekend’s "It’s Never too Early to Predict the Future" and our current position is short-term bearish in the Jan-April time-frame, looking for a pullback to at least 1,200 on the S&P and possibly back to 1,150.
After that, we are expecting a return to steady gains but without the irrational exuberance we’re currently experiencing. So no, I am not bearish – I simply think we’ve gotten ahead of ourselves. Since we don’t know where the rally train will stop, we have our "Breakout Defense – 5,000% in 5 Trades or Less" from Dec 11th, which were a set of very bullish, highly levered plays where a little bet can pay off a lot if we simply hold our long-established breakout levels.
How much is "a lot"? Well my GE trade idea, for example, was to sell the 2013 $12.50 puts for $1.10 (net $1.15 in ordinary margin according to TOS) and to use that money to buy the 2012 $17.50/20 bull call spread for .95, which was a net .15 credit on a $2.50 spread that was on the money at the time. GE has gained about .75 since the 11th and…
Defending Your Virtual Portfolio With Dividends – Q4 (Members Only)
by Phil - October 23rd, 2010 7:55 am
In uncertain markets, dividends can give you a critical investing edge.
As you can see from the chart on the left, just mindlessly investing in dividend-paying stocks can give you more than a 2:1 annual advantage in your investments.
Of course, here at PSW, we teach the art of selling options premiums – something that turns virtually any stock into a "dividend" payer. For example, MSFT is only a small, 2% dividend-payer but a fairly solid cash-machine of a stock that we don’t feel is likely to go bankrupt overnight so it makes for a nice safe staple in a long-term virtual portfolio. But MSFT is also a very poorly-run company that hasn’t grown in 20 years but we can make it a much more interesting stock by simply selling covered calls.
For example, in our August edition of Dividend Payers, we looked at MSFT for $24.23 and we sell the Sept $24 calls for .77. This lowered our effective basis to $23.46 and selling the call putus in no special danger – we simply agreed to sell MSFT for $24 on expiration day in September (the 17th).
The stock was called away from us, and we made a .54 profit or 2.3% of our net $23.46 cash investment in less than 30 days. That works out to a 26% annualized ROI and we had an opportunity (as we had expected) to buy the stock again and again at $24 on Oct 4th and 5th and sell the November $24 calls for .90 for a net $23.10 re-entry and ANOTHER 3.8% GAIN if we are called away at $24 or greater on Nov 19th. Doesn’t that beat waiting a whole quarter for your 1% dividend checks?
Of course, you can optimize all this with timing and we favor stocks that are on sale – this is just a very simple example of how our most basic options strategy can drastically boost your annual returns on any stock in your virtual portfolio.
Let’s say you don’t want to mess around with MSFT every month. You could have simply sold the 2012 $22.50s for $4.40 (also suggested in the August post), that dropped your net entry from $24.23 to $19.83 and getting called away at $22.50 would be a profit of 13.5% over 17 months PLUS you would be getting your…
Optimist Enacts Bullish Risk Reversal on Dollar Tree Stores Ahead of Earnings
by Option Review - August 9th, 2010 5:46 pm
Today’s tickers: DLTR, SPWRB, VZ, AMKR, NXY, CMCSK, MYL, DELL & ZGEN
DLTR – Dollar Tree Stores, Inc. – An investor expecting shares in Dollar Tree to rally significantly by November expiration initiated a bullish risk reversal on the stock today with the price of the discount retailer’s shares up 2.55% at $43.10 as of 3:05 pm ET. It looks like the trader sold approximately 4,825 puts at the November $40 strike for an average premium of $1.30 each in order to partially finance the purchase of the same number of call options at the higher November $45 strike for an average premium of $1.60 apiece. The net cost of putting on the risk reversal trade amounts to $0.30 per contract. Thus, the investor is prepared to make money should Dollar Tree Stores’ shares jump 5.1% to trade above the average breakeven price of $45.30 by expiration day in November. The investor may also be making a bullish wager on DLTR ahead of the firm’s second-quarter earnings report scheduled for release before the opening bell on August 19, 2010.
SPWRB – SunPower Corp. – News that solar energy developer, Etrion Corp., agreed to purchase the two initial phases of Italy’s largest solar park from SunPower Corp. for roughly $63.5 million in cash plus debt today sent SunPower’s shares up as much as 5.4% today to an intraday high of $12.59. Shares are currently trading 4.25% higher on the day to arrive at $12.45 as of 3:15 pm ET. The move higher in the price of the underlying stock attracted bullish options players to the August contract. Investors hoping to see SunPower’s shares continue to appreciate ahead of August expiration purchased roughly 1,000 calls at the August $12.5 strike for an average premium of $0.50 each. Call buyers make money if SPWRB’s shares can rally another 4.4% to surpass the average breakeven price of $13.00 by expiration day. Other optimistic individuals sold 1,100 in-the-money puts at the August $12.5 strike to take in an average premium of $0.60 apiece. Put sellers retain the full premium enjoyed on the transaction as long as SunPower’s shares are trading above $12.50 through August expiration. Investors short the puts are ready and willing to have shares of the underlying stock put to them at an effective price of $11.90 in the event the put contracts land in-the-money at expiration day.
VZ – Verizon Communications,…
The Worst-Case Scenario: Getting Real With Global GDP!
by Phil - June 6th, 2010 8:27 am
$10,500.
That is the per capita average GDP for the 6Bn ape-like creatures on this planet who have pockets and purses. Of the still hairy and pocketless apes, there are only about 1M left and they are mainly prisoners so we won’t be worrying about them but it would be nice to consider the plight of our ancestors once in a while… Anyway, so 6Bn of us fill in those last 3 images in the planetary labor pool with the vast majority of us STILL FARMING and, of course, a select group of us are still hunting and gathering and contributing very little to the GDP.
None of our problems are new – as noted in this 2005 cartoon:
The United States of America with it’s highly evolved population of shopoholics has a per capita GDP of $46,381 – VERY IMPRESSIVE but we rank 6th! Brunei does a little better than we do and Singapore is up at $50,523 (so let’s hear it for corporal punishment) and Norway (one of my top choices of countries to flee to when it all hits the fan) is at $52,561 but Luxembourgh ($78,395 – banking) and Qatar ($83,841 – oil) simply trounce us in earnings power per person. For those of you who like to think Capitalism is all about keeping score – they must be better than you because they make more money, right?
Below the US, per capita GDP drops off fairly quickly. Rounding out the top 10 are Switzerland ($43,007 – watches and more bankers), Hong Kong ($42,748 – don’t tell China!), Netherlands ($39,938 – legal drugs!), Ireland ($39,468 – free beer when on wellfare!) and Australia ($38,911 – beer comes in oil cans plus gigantic bouncing rats). 20th on the list is Germany at $34,212, Greece is 25th at $29,882 (but not for long), 30th is South Korea at $27,978, 40th is Slovakia at $21,245. Lithuania comes in at 50 with $16,542 (1 ahead of Russia) and it steadies out there with emerging market star Brazil in 75th place with $10,514 and, keep in mind – that is where you FINALLY get to the average leverl of economic activity for the world.
Another BRIC in the global wall is mighty China, with a per capita GDP of $6,567 for each of their 1.2Bn persons and India’s Billion people average out at less than half of that, at $2,941, ranking 128th and still ahead of 53…
Thrill-Ride Thursday – Wednesday Never Happened, Now What?
by Phil - May 27th, 2010 8:16 am
Poor CNBC! They are never going to get those chocolates…
I joked with Members during yesterday’s rally, after Fast Money’s bullish "Half-Time Report": "Uh oh – All the Fast Money people said buy - make sure you have your disaster hedges in place!" Indeed the market fell off a cliff almost the second they said it but we got out of our TZA calls (a little early) and did a little bottom fishing yesterday with our own buys on LYG ($3.13), Short EUO ($25.30), VZ ($27), FRO ($30.50), RIG ($58.50) and PFE ($15.10). Maybe I’m just a paranoid conspiracy theorist but I said to Members at the close:
That was a sad little show at the end wasn’t it? Nas was beaten with a stick into the close. AAPL $243, BIDU $67.46, AMZN $123… Ugly stuff. Not at all sure what they were trying to accomplish if not a flush…
Gap/RMM – Yes (we will gap) up. I just didn’t see why we would sell off like that. It seems that someone wanted to paint un ugly picture, maybe they didn’t get a good fill on Tuesday morning? Maybe not gap up tomorrow, maybe another drop and THEN we take off but I’m thinking a fund that wants to make numbers on Friday would want to flush us today and buy the SPX overnight and pump us up for a big finish so they can get back to cash on Friday and book it.
Isn’t it funny how that’s pretty much exactly what’s happening this morning? A huge gap up into the open that’s erasing the previous day’s losses when no one is trading – just like yesterday (when I get on my knees and pray - we won’t get fooled again). Fast Money got fooled out of their bullish 1:50 positions by 5pm as suddenly they relized the market is controlled by evil computer programs – not exactly news to us and no reason to shake us out of our well-hedged positions. We ignored rumors on China (and we always ignore Steve Ballmer) in chat and those seemed to be the major rumors moving the market lower yesterday.
Cramer kept the rumor mill grinding, saying: "The Chinese reportedly are debating whether or not to sell their European bonds, and that’s what killed our upward momentum." CNBC seems to have pulled the video so it’s hard to tell the tone but Cramer put up a list of a dozen stocks to buy but said to wait for…
Monday Market Movement – Can We Go It Alone?
by Phil - April 5th, 2010 8:17 am
It’s lonely out there in Stock Land today.
Everybody’s closed today except Japan and they are so thrilled with 94.5 Yen to the dollar that you can’t figure anthing out by watching their market add another 53 points this morning to finish the day at 11,339 but it was well off the gap up open at 11,400. As I mentioned in the Weekend Wrap-Up, where we discussed our Super-Secret Strategy for making money off this nonsense – just because a rally is totally propped up BS doesn’t mean it isn’t, technically, a rally – does it?
With everyone else closed, the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index hit 19-month highs and copper climbed to $3.62 in overnight trading (when there were no traders) and gold hit $1,130 while oil hovered around $85.50 so we can infer that commodities are very, very popular with vacationing traders. Asian traders were excited about our jobs numbers – obviously they didn’t read my analysis on Friday:
“Overall, we are seeing positive signs about the global economy,” said Hiroaki Muto, a senior economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co., which manages $111 billion. “While developing nations are leading global growth, they are waiting for the U.S. to rebound. Recent reports are suggesting that the U.S. labor market and consumer spending are improving.”
Consumer spending is certainly improving at the Apple Store with 700,000 IPads going out the door in 48 hours, bringing AAPL an estimated $500,000,000 in revenues over the weekend. I was in the NY Apple Store this weekend and there were about 200 IPads on display with lines 3-4 deep of people very patiently waiting considering the average person who touched one held on for a good half hour. Keep in mind that the IPads that are selling now are limited Wi-Fi only models – the good, 3G ones don’t come out for another couple of weeks!
So, based on 2 days of sales, we can project AAPL selling $175Bn worth of IPads this year and that will make AAPL worth about a Trillion dollars, which is very likely to boost the Nasdaq back to 5,000… OK, that may be a bit of an over-statement but we still cannot ignore the Apple effect on the market because it does look like they are going to move a tremendous amount of IPads this year and that will be good for chip…
Short (but Wild) Weekly Wrap-Up
by Phil - April 3rd, 2010 7:55 am
What a crazy week!
The markets were bucking like a bronco but were they trying to throw off the shorts prior to a move back down or trying to flush out the weak-handed longs prior to a big breakout to new levels? After gapping open to 10,900 on Monday morning we went up to 10,950, down to 10,830 and back to 10,950 – all to finish the week at 10,927, which is up 39 points since March 23rd so don’t tell me we’re wasting out time as that’s 5 points a day baby (if we round up).
We had the day off on Friday but we did get the critical Non-Farm Payroll data for March but, as noted in my report (and in the Member Chat), despite the very excited reaction from the futures, there is no clear indication there that either the Bulls or Bears have a lasting point. So perhaps the wild market action is nothing more than good old-fashioned indecision – the futures flew up but then Goldman said they saw "Little Underlying Improvement" in the data and that "Productivity Gains Have Diminished Sharply" - clearly mixed signals that may take some time to resolve.
Last weekend, I complained that it was a "6-Point Weekly Wrap-Up" as that’s all we got from the S&P, which finished at 1,166. This week I am happy to report that we gained 12 points – all the way to 1,178 and we are closing in on that 1,080 mark, which we did touch briefly at Thursday’s open (which gave us the great shorting opportunity we had looked for in Thursday morning’s post!). It’s not that I don’t respect the rally – technically, you have to respect the rally but that’s why we’re in cash: We can take advantage of these huge intra-day moves down (and sometimes up) - getting our 6-second bull rides and scoring as many points as we can before the rodeo clowns turn on the buy programs and stop the ride.
Overall, it’s a pretty mindless market. You can go long at about about 2pm and flip short about 10 am the next morning – in the futures that can add up to shocking amounts of money and it sure isn’t bad when you are using options for leverage either. We’re sure the game will collapse one day and hopefully we’ll be able to pull the rip cord without…
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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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