Thursday – World Bank Says Fighting Poverty is an Investment – Ryan’s Head Explodes
by phil - October 11th, 2012 8:19 am
"We don't see the focus on poverty as about charity, but rather about investment in future growth."
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim outlined his vision of what the multilateral lender should do, focusing sharply on cases of significant poverty. Dr. Kim said economic-growth expectations were being scaled back everywhere but that he was determined to prevent the substantial gains made by emerging economies over the past decade from being wiped out. "Every country has to look at its public spending and see what works," he said.
The World Bank had their annual meeting in conjunction with the IMF in Tokyo this week and Dr. Young's message is no longer the opposite of Christine LaGaurd's, who has essentially come around to thinking that austerity is no longer the answer – pushing for debt write-downs for Greece, Portugal and Spain as well as backing Greece's request for two more years to meet its fiscal targets. “We will spare no time, no effort to actually do as much as we can in order to help Greece,” Lagarde said. The fund’s purpose is “to make sure that Greece is back on its feet, that it can one day return to markets, that it doesn’t have the need for constant support.”
Meanwhile, Spain was downgraded to one notch over junk (BBB-) with a negative credit watch by S&P last night but it was more of a "buy on the news" event this morning as it's certainly not a shocker that Spain's paper is worthless without the ESM backing. Yields on 10-year Spanish bonds shot up 9bps to 5.89% but stopping short of 6% was considered a positive. Spain is the poster child for the idiocy of using austerity to combat debt (ie. the Romney plan) as squeezing the economy by cutting Government spending has actually worsened the country's fiscal position, which has led to calls for greater austerity but these calls come from bankers and bondholders – who just want to get paid, no matter the long-term damage done to the borrowers.
“There is no chance that Spain will hit its targets,” said Megan Greene, director of European economics at Roubini Global Economics LLC, “The deficit targets are economic suicide.’ “Even as you cut, the gap between spending and revenue collection keeps getting larger,” said Jonathan Tepper, a partner at research firm Variant Perception. “We’re…
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Bullish Risk Reversal Player Eyes Hess Corp.
by Option Review - December 23rd, 2010 4:24 pm
Today’s tickers: HES, NOK, AES & NBG
HES - Hess Corp. – The energy company appeared on our scanners this morning after one options strategist initiated a bullish risk reversal in the February 2011 contract. Shares in Hess Corp. are currently down 0.45% to arrive at $75.82 as of 12:40pm. It looks like the investor responsible for the transaction sold 2,500 puts at the February 2011 $65 strike for a premium of $0.53 each, in order to buy the same number of calls at the higher February 2011 $85 strike at a premium of $0.55 apiece. The investor paid a net $0.02 per contract for the risk reversal. This strategy is a far cheaper method of gaining upside exposure for a Hess-bull than buying calls outright. Premium on the calls will appreciate if shares rally sufficiently ahead of expiration day, and the investor may be able to book profits by selling the calls at a higher premium whether or not they land in-the-money. The short stance in puts indicates this individual expects shares to remain above $65.00. He appears to be more than willing to bear the risk of having 250,000 shares of the underlying stock put to him if the puts land in-the-money at expiration because of the cost savings that put selling provides for the bullish stance. Hess Corp. shares are currently trading just below their 52-week high of $76.54, attained during trading on Wednesday. The bullish risk reversal suggests the investor is positioning for Hess Corp.’s shares to hit new highs in the next couple of months to expiration. Shares must rally at least 12.1% over the current price of $75.82 in order for the February 2011 $85 strike calls to land in-the-money before they expire in February.
NOK - Nokia Corp. – Options traders are picking up both call and put options on the mobile telecommunications company today in the February 2011 contract. It looks like investors are expecting shares to move ahead of expiration day in February. Shares in Nokia Corp.…
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Anadys Pharm-Bull Eyes Upside, Buys Call Spread
by Option Review - March 11th, 2010 4:57 pm
Today’s tickers: ANDS, FXI, GME, BIIB, TRA, WYN & AES
ANDS – Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – Biotechnology firm, Anadys Pharmaceuticals, enticed a long-term bullish investor to shell out option premium in order to establish a debit call spread in the September contract. ANDS-shares are trading 0.45% higher on the day to $2.19 as of 2:25 pm (ET). The optimistic options player purchased 3,000 calls at the September $2.5 strike for a premium of $0.55 apiece, marked against the sale of 3,000 calls at the higher September $5.0 strike for $0.15 each. The net cost of the call spread amounts to $0.30 per contract. The transaction positions the trader to accrue maximum potential profits of $2.20 per contract should shares of the underlying stock surge 128.3% over the current price to $5.00 by expiration day in September. Shares must rally at least 27.85% in order for the investor to break even on the trade at a share price of $2.80 each.
FXI – iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index Fund – The China exchange-traded fund, which corresponds to the price and yield performance of an underlying index invested in 25 of the largest and most liquid Chinese companies, realized a 0.95% decline in the price of its underlying shares to $41.13 this afternoon. Investors touting long-term pessimistic outlooks on the fund purchased put options in the January 2011 contract. It appears some 25,500 put options were picked up at the January 2011 $35 strike for an average premium of $2.50 apiece. Put-purchasers could be seeking downside protection on long underlying share positions. On the other hand, the contracts may have been purchased outright by extremely bearish individuals anticipating a 21% decline in shares of the FXI to $32.50 ahead of expiration. Investors in this case reel in profits should the price of the underlying fund trade below $32.50 in the next nine months to expiration day in January.
GME – GameStop Corp. – Shares of the largest retailer of video games jumped more than 5.10% during the trading session to $19.22 due to speculation the firm may be acquired. Despite the current rally in GameStop’s shares to $19.22 today, the stock still stands 41.45% below its 52-week high of $32.82 attained back on April 13, 2009. Investors taken-in by the takeover rumors purchased approximately 10,300 calls at the March $20 strike for an average premium of $0.47 per contract. The call options…
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Cisco Call Options Fly off the Shelves
by Option Review - March 8th, 2010 4:06 pm
Today’s tickers: CSCO, DRYS, CIGX, AES, V, MCD, BIIB, SNE, GME & VALE
CSCO – Cisco Systems, Inc. – Bullish call-buying dominated options trading patterns on Cisco today on news the firm is slated to “make a significant announcement that will forever change the internet and its impact on consumers, businesses and governments.” Cisco’s shares jumped 4.15% to a new 52-week high of $26.25 during the session on a target share price upgrade to $28.00 from $26.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co. Bullish traders purchased approximately 15,800 in-the-money calls at the March $26 strike for a premium of $0.33 apiece and coveted 9,300 calls at the higher March $27 strike for an average premium of $0.10 each. Uber-bullish individuals bought 4,000 calls at the March $28 strike for just two pennies premium per contract. Investors long the closest-to-the-money March $26 strike calls are positioned to accrue profits if Cisco’s shares trade above $26.33 ahead of expiration day. The surge in demand for options on the stock as well as uncertainty surrounding tomorrow’s announcement lifted the reading of overall options implied volatility on Cisco by 17.5% to 22.85% in afternoon trading.
DRYS – DryShips, Inc. – Dry-bulk shipping company, DryShips, Inc., experienced a short-lived dip in the price of its shares in morning trading, but regained its footing this afternoon, rallying 7.77% to $6.10 with about forty minutes remaining in the session. Call-buying action flooded DRYS today with approximately 22,300 now in-the-money calls picked up at the near-term March $6 strike for an average premium of $0.22 apiece. Nearly 12,000 calls were coveted at the higher March $7 strike for $0.05 premium per contract. Optimism spread to the same strike prices in the April contract, as well. Investors secured roughly 11,600 long in-the-money calls at the April $6 strike for an average premium of $0.39 each. Traders bought another 4,000 call options at the higher April $7 strike for $0.16 per contract. Options traders exchanged more than 130,000 contracts on DryShips during the session, which represents about 27% of total existing open interest on the stock of 480,443 contracts. Options implied volatility jumped approximately 34.8% this afternoon to 60.26%.
CIGX – Star Scientific, Inc. – Shares of the maker of dissolvable smokeless tobacco products surged 6.70% to $1.12 today, inspiring one investor to establish a bullish risk reversal on the stock in the August contract. The trader appears to have sold…
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Gaylord Welcomes New Options Players As Investors Target Upside
by Option Review - August 4th, 2009 4:22 pm
Today’s tickers: GET, BAC, WFMI, KSS, HGSI, MOS, AES & NUAN
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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.