Abbott Labs Puts Active After Q4 Earnings
by Option Review - January 22nd, 2014 5:28 pm
Shares in Abbott Laboratories (Ticker: ABT) are in negative territory on Wednesday after the company reported better than expected fourth-quarter earnings, but revenue that was less than analysts estimated. Shares in the medical products company dropped 5.5% to an intraday low of $36.94 near the open, but have rallied significantly during the session to stand at $38.40 as of the time of this writing.
Options changing hands on Abbott Labs in the early going suggests some traders are positioning for the price of the underlying to potentially extend losses this week. The 24 Jan ’14 weekly puts traded more than 1,600 times this morning against open interest of 204 contracts. Time and sales data indicates most of the volume was purchased for an average premium of $0.45 each. Put buyers stand ready to profit at expiration this week in the event that ABT shares slip 2.2% from the current level of $38.40 to breach the breakeven point on the downside at $37.55.
The regular Mar $37 strike puts attracted fresh interest as well during the first half of the session, with around 440 contracts purchased at a premium of $0.74 each. These puts make money if shares move 5.5% lower to trade below $36.26 by March expiration. Put options are more active than calls on Abbott this morning, with the put/call ratio hovering near 1.4 just before midday in New York trading.
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Wrong Way Weekly Wrap-Up
by phil - September 19th, 2009 8:28 am
I am trying to get bullish, really I am.
As I said to Members on Thursday morning in chat, like Sam Jackson in Pulp Fiction: "I'm trying hard to be the (bullish) shepherd" but the data makes it hard – so very hard! Anyway, I'm not here to complain about the market forces moving against us but to review the carnage of our picks going all the way back to Sept 10th, when we decided the prior day's beige book was not going to be enough to break out over 9,600 on the Dow. Now, with the Dow at 9,820 after testing 9,900 it's a good idea to look back and see what we missed in this last 2.5% leg up.
On Thursday the 10th, we talked about patterns. One pattern I recommended following right in the morning post was the famous "stick save" investment. Simply buying high-delta DIA calls at about 2:30 each afternoon and selling into the pumped-up close. That was a winning play on the 10th, 11th (Fri), 14th and 16th but not the last two days, when we turned a lot more bearish – but we'll get to that further down this review. 4 out of 5 days is pretty good for a patten and seeing it broken 3 of the past 5 days is also significant. I did promise that Thursday that we will look for more bullish opportunities once we have a clear break over our last two levels (NYSE 6,959 and S&P 1,056) and we did make those this week. If we hold it through Tuesday, it will be time and we're going to line up some trades this weekend. True to my word on that Thursday, we chose a variety of bullish and bearish plays in Member Chat. I'm posting the plays along with suggested adjustments if needed as it's a nice way to review our various strategies in progress – especially under "adverse" conditions.
Trade ideas of the day for Members were:
- DIA $95 puts that ended up being rolled and doubled down for a net 20% gain (too much bother to detail).
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SUN at $23.36, now $28.45 (up $5.09), short Oct $25 calls at $2.20, now 3.70 (down $1.50) and short the Jan $22.50 puts at $1.15, now .70 (up .45).
- Another buy/write at net $23.01/22.76, already
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Pharma’s Green Shoots
by phil - September 15th, 2009 6:43 am
Courtesy of Pharmboy
Hello all! Not a bad month since our first plays in the Pharma and Biotech space. Phil summed up last week the positions and the nice profits on our picks, and I think it is time for a few more companies to focus on for our virtual portfolios (e.g., 100K), after all, it’s about tilling the soil and making some money on our Pharm….
First, the healthcare debate is going to rage on after the holiday weekend, and I am expecting this sector to take some lumps with our good ride up. I would expect the economies of scale to weigh in, as even though price may be lower, picking up more coverage (patients) is what it is all about. Those dependent upon high priced biologics may be the ones that take the biggest hit, as the costs are quite different than popping a pill every day for a few $$$. Just things to ponder and we will react as developments take shape on the horizon.
Mid-summer and early fall are the times for the biotech and pharma segments to provide the greatest returns. I cannot decide if it is the cyclical nature or if more clinical data are being released during this time. Looking at XBI and XPH over a five year period, the biotech fund (XBI) has done a bit better on overall return, but the two charts follow the same overall pattern. Thus, we are entering the final stretch for this sector, and should be prepared for a slight pullback during the holidays.
5 yr XBI and XPH Chart Here >>
Now, on to the good stuff….
Shire PLC (SPHGY), founded in 1986, aims to be a market leader in meeting the needs of specialist physicians in targeted segments. Its core therapeutic focus areas are attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; within central nervous system, CNS) and increasingly biopharmaceuticals that address specific genetic disorders. Consistent with this strategy, Shire has been made a number of important acquisitions, including the 2007 purchase of New River, the developer of Vyvanse (the successor for Adderall XR ADHD treatment; and a series of biopharmaceutical acquisitions, following the Transkaryotic Therapies entry acquisition in 2005. In 2008, Shire acquired German biotech company Jerini, which brought along Firazyr, a treatment for hereditary angioedema.
Recently, Shire has sent its treatment for Gaucher disease, an alternative…
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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 site