Bearish Options Active On Gold Miners ETF
by Option Review - May 7th, 2013 6:25 pm
Today’s tickers: GDX, PCRX & ARUN
GDX - Market Vectors Gold Miners Index ETF – Big prints in GDX put options on Tuesday morning indicate some traders are positioning for shares in the Market Vectors Gold Miners Index ETF to potentially drop to the lowest level since December of 2008. Shares in the ETF are off 3.0% today at $28.85 as of midday in New York. Volume in GDX options is heaviest in the Jun $27 strike puts where nearly 40,000 puts have traded versus open interest of 16,819 contracts. It looks like the bulk of the volume was purchased for an average premium of $0.89 per contract. Put buyers stand ready to profit at June expiration should the price of the underlying plunge 9.5% from the current level to trade below the average breakeven price of $26.11 by expiration. Sizable prints in the Jun $27 puts helped push the put/call ratio on GDX above 4.4 during the first half of the session.
PCRX - Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – Shares in specialty pharmaceutical company, Pacira Pharmaceuticals, Inc., are bouncing around on Tuesday, rising as much as 2.0% in the early going, before reversing gains to trade down 2.0% at $27.84 by 12:25 p.m. ET. The company reports first-quarter earnings ahead of the opening bell tomorrow. Options changing hands on Pacira this morning suggest one trader is positioning for PCRX shares to approach record highs in the near term. It looks like more than 1,000 of the May $30 strike calls were purchased for an average premium of $0.90 each. The bullish strategy makes money if shares in the pharmaceutical company rally 11% over the current price of $27.84 to top the average breakeven price of $30.90 by expiration next week. Shares in PCRX are up more than 180% since this time last year.
ARUN - Aruba Networks, Inc. – The provider of network access solutions for mobile enterprise networks released preliminary…
Bullish Bets On The Rise In Las Vegas Sands Options
by Option Review - February 22nd, 2013 1:40 pm
Today’s tickers: LVS, ARUN & PLCE
LVS - Las Vegas Sands, Inc. – U.S. stocks rebounded this morning on better-than-expected earnings from Hewlett-Packard and AIG released Thursday, and following market-soothing comments from St. Louis Fed Chief, James Bullard, to CNBC’s Squawk Box on Friday morning. Shares in casino resort operator, Las Vegas Sands, joined in on the end-of-week rally, rising as much as 2.5% in the early going to touch $50.32. Heavy trading traffic in May expiry call options this morning suggests some traders are positioning for shares in the name to extend gains during the next few months. The May $52.5 strike calls are seeing the most volume, with more than 21,000 contracts in play versus open interest of 282 contracts as of 11:45 a.m. ET. It looks like most of the calls were purchased for an average premium of $2.04 each. Fresh interest is also building in the May $50 strike calls where roughly 4,700 contracts appear to have been purchased for an average premium of $3.10 apiece. Traders long the May $50 and $52.5 strike calls may profit at expiration should shares in LVS rally approximately 6.0% and 9.0% to exceed average breakeven points at $53.10 and $54.54, respectively. Finally, one or more bullish traders appear to be buying the May $50/$60 call spread for an average net premium of $2.65 per contract. The bull call spread pays off if shares in Las Vegas Sands top the breakeven price of $52.65 by May expiration, with maximum potential profits of $7.35 per contract available if the stock jumps to a record high of $60.00.
ARUN - Aruba Networks, Inc. – Shares in Aruba Networks jumped nearly 30% on Friday morning to a new 52-week high of $26.78 after the provider of enterprise mobility solutions reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and sales, and forecast third-quarter revenue above analyst estimates. A sizable bullish bet initiated on Aruba ahead of the company’s earnings release is paying off for one trader today, as shares sit at their highest level since July…
Call Buying Detected Even As Express Shares Plummet
by Option Review - October 2nd, 2012 12:56 pm
Today’s tickers: EXPR, ARO & ARUN
EXPR - Express, Inc. – Specialty retailer Express, Inc.’s shares are getting hammered today, down more than 20% at $11.90 as of 11:10 a.m. in New York, after the company lowered its third-quarter earnings forecast and said same-store sales will decline in the mid-single digit range. Express, Inc. shares, publicly traded since the company’s May 2010 IPO, have not yet managed to catch a bid in today’s session as the stock continues to hit fresh record lows. Options traders betting shares in the name will rebound by the start of the new calendar year snapped up January 2013 expiry call options this morning. Contrarian bets are heaviest at the Jan. 2013 $15 strike where approximately 975 calls were purchased at a premium of $0.45 apiece. Call buyers may profit at expiration next year in the event that EXPR shares jump 30% over the current price of $11.90 to top the effective breakeven point at $15.45. Getting long the Jan. 2013 $15 call has been painful for one or more options traders who appear to have purchased at least 550 of the contracts back on September 4th for a premium of $2.20 per contract. The value of the call options has collapsed in the four weeks since then, down nearly 90% so far to the current asking price of $0.30 apiece.
ARO - Aeropostale, Inc.– Shares in teen retailer, Aeropostale, Inc., are moving lower this morning, perhaps in sympathy with Express, Inc., after the specialty retailer cut its third quarter profit forecast. ARO shares are currently down 2.3% at $13.05 as of 11:00 a.m. ET, and it looks like some options traders are positioning for the price of the underlying to extend losses in the near term. Trading traffic in Aeropostale options is heaviest in the Oct. $13 strike put where more than 8,000 contracts have changed hands versus open interest of 1,239 positions. It looks like most of the…
Emerging Markets ETF Options Fly
by Option Review - April 5th, 2011 4:03 pm
Today’s tickers: EEM, GG, ARUN & XLI
EEM - iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index ETF – Options volume on the EEM has topped 525,000 contracts in the first two hours of the trading session after one big emerging-markets bull banked substantial profits on a previously established position, and extended his optimistic view on the fund through May expiration. Shares in the EEM are down one penny on the session to stand at $49.86 as of 11:15am in New York. It looks like the strategist accumulated upside exposure on the ETF during the month of March, buying a 100,000-lot April $50/$52 call spread for an average premium of $0.20 per contract on March 8th and 9th, when shares in the fund were hovering around $43.89. The subsequent 13.5% rise in the price of the underlying since the transaction was initiated lifted premium on the calls, allowing the options trader to sell the 100,000-lot call spread for $0.46 per contract this morning. The call-spreader pockets average net profits of $0.26 per contract, or around $2.6 million, on this leg of the transaction. Next, the EEM-optimist constructed a fresh debit call spread in the May contract, buying 100,000 calls at the May $51 strike at a premium of $0.80 each, and selling the same number of calls at the higher May $53 strike for a premium of $0.22 a-pop. Net premium paid to initiate the transaction amounts to $0.58 per contract. Thus, the trader is poised to profit in the event that shares in the EEM rally 3.4% over the current price of $49.86 to surpass the effective breakeven point— and a new 52-week high— of $51.58 by expiration day next month. Maximum potential profits of $1.42 per contract, or $14.2 million, are available to the investor should shares in the ETF surge 6.3% to trade above $53.00 by May expiration. Finally, the sale of two sizable chunks of in-the-money April contract call options generated big gains for another EEM-bull this morning. It looks like the…