Straddle-Seller Targets Technology SPDR ETF
by Option Review - April 13th, 2011 5:52 pm
Today’s tickers: XLK, FCS, HGG & ADTN
XLK - Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF – A sizable short straddle on the Technology SPDR ETF comprises nearly all of the day’s options volume generated on the fund as of 1:00pm in New York. It looks like the investor responsible for the transaction is hoping to see the price of the underlying settle as close to $26.00 as possible by expiration day next month. Shares in the XLK, an exchange-traded fund that corresponds to the price and yield performance of the Technology Select Sector of the S&P 500 Index, increased as much as 1.0% during the session to secure an intraday high of $25.94. The straddle-strategist appears to have sold 15,000 calls and 15,000 in-the-money puts at the May $26 strike to pocket gross premium of around $1.08 per contract. The investor keeps the full amount of premium received on the trade if shares in the XLK settle at $26.00 at expiration. The trader may walk away with some portion of the total premium as long as the ETF’s shares trade within the range of $27.08 to the upside, and $24.92 on the downside, through expiration in May. The short-straddle player will also benefit from declines in options implied volatility and the passage of time, as both factors erode premium on the options and cheapen the cost of buying back the straddle, should he choose to do so, at some future date.
FCS - Fairchild Semiconductor International – May contract call activity on the semiconductor maker appears to be the work of an options player taking a bullish stance on Fairchild ahead the company’s Thursday morning first-quarter earnings report. Shares in the San Jose, CA-based company are currently down 1.2% to stand at $19.00 in early-afternoon trade. The options strategist initiated a debit call spread, buying roughly 2,200 calls at the May $21 strike for an average premium of $0.60 each, and selling the same number of calls up at the May $23 strike at an average premium…
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Testy Tuesday – Already?
by phil - July 13th, 2010 8:19 am
Wheeeee, this is fun!
It's only been a week since I called for "Turnaround Tuesday" and asked the question "Will CNBC Apologize to America" for their ridiculous, sickening parade of negativity that chased their poor viewers out of the market (now 600 points ago) by completely misrepresenting the economic outlook in order to protect the TERRIBLE advice given by Jim Cramer, the Fast Money Crew, their sponsors etc. etc. – it was all one national frenzy of media negativity designed to shove retail investors entirely out of the market while the cognoscenti went shopping.
It's not just CNBC, of course, it's a problem with the whole MSM but I ranted about corporate (top 0.01%) control of the media last week so let's move on as we wave bye-bye to all the beautiful sheeple who were kind enough to sell us their stocks at the bottom, despite my warnings. Our 500% upside plays are now well on their way to making 500% for us and our "9 Fabulous Dow Plays Plus a Chip Shot" are also looking good already. Even the trade ideas I mentioned right in last Tuesday's post are well on track as I said last week:
On Friday, I had said to Members right at 9:38, in the Morning Alert: "If we run up, then it will be prudent to get more neutral into the weekend but if we stay down and hold our levels, then saying a little bullish will be fine. Out of short-term short trades if you haven’t already. Keep in mind we have some great 500% upside plays you can still grab here if you think you are too short."
The latter was a reference to our 500% upside plays. We also went with EEM July $38 calls at .99, and a QLD $50/53 bull call spread for $1.30 (selling puts as well for more profits) as well as long plays on RIMM, AA, HOV, VLO and TASR. My optimism was based on the considered TA analysis I shared with Members at 2:39:
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After completing last month’s "Omega III" market pattern on the Trade Bots, it’s now time to spring the bear trap and run the "Apha II" into options expiration
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Monday Market Movement – Are We Done at 1/3?
by phil - July 13th, 2009 7:12 am
There it is!
The Nikkei gave up another 2.5% overnight and is now down 1,000 points for the month of July, retracing 1/3 of the gains since March 10th, at 7,000. The Hang Seng also fell 2.5% (this is why we have rules!) but finishing at 17,254 is down just 1,750 points (10%) since July 1st but also represents a very neat 1/3 retrace off 7,650-point run to 19,000 from the March low of 11,500. I hate to say I told you so (actually, it’s kind of fun sometimes) but the 2 full paragraphs I devoted to playing the FXP (ultra-short China) in Friday’s post are all huge winners, with the July vertical spread looking like a clean double already – how’s that for weekend protection? Don’t be greedy, if we are not heading lower today in the US, it’s a good idea to kill the short-term trade and take the profits off the table.
On a global basis, we need to be concerned with this 1/3 retrace trend as the Shanghai has not gone down much at all off it’s 54% run from March. The Shanghai Composite only fell 1% this morning and has miles to go to match the sell-off of the other indices. Over in Europe, the FTSE is down to 4,125, falling from 4.500 in June (8.3%) after rising from 3,500 in March (28%) so, PRESTO, a 1/3 retrace there too! The DAX is right on the 1/3 line at 4,600 and the CAC is right on the nose after rising from 2,550 to 3,500 (37%) and falling back to 3,100 (12.7%), just about 1/3. Are we sensing a theme here?
The Dow rose from 6,500 on March 9th to 8,800 on June 12th (up 35%) and is now back to 8,150 (down 7.4%) with about 5% more to fall before hitting the magic 33% mark. Call 700 the floor on the S&P with 950 as the top and we have a 35% gain there as well with 880 being a 7.4% drop. Wow, what a coincidence! Only there are no coincidences, just quant trading programs that decide these things long before you read the paper and decide what stocks look good and bad… The Nasdaq was our Icarus index, flying too close to the sun with a 50% move from 1,300 to 1,850 and they are down just 100 points which works out to 15.4% down, a 30% retrace. …
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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