Netflix Tie With Apple TV Spurs Options Frenzy As Shares Take Off
by Option Review - September 1st, 2010 4:06 pm
Today’s tickers: NFLX, ULTA, BKC, RIG, COH, RDC & BID
NFLX – Netflix, Inc. – Call options on Netflix are in high demand today after Apple, Inc. CEO, Steve Jobs, said the new Apple TV product will allow consumers to stream movies from Netflix for the first time. NFLX shares jumped 8.5% on the news to an intraday high of $136.25 in late afternoon trading. Near-term bullish trading strategies dominated options action on Netflix today as a number of investors picked up calls and sold puts on the stock. Traders purchased approximately 1,400 now in-the-money calls at the September $135 strike for premium of $4.45 apiece. Another 1,500 calls were coveted at the higher September $140 strike at an average premium of $2.55 each. Shares in NFLX must increase another 4.6% in order for traders long the September $140 strike calls to start to accrue profits above the average breakeven price of $142.55 by expiration day. Optimists also scooped up 1,500 calls at the September $145 strike for premium of $1.57 each, and bought approximately 1,300 calls at the September $150 strike. Some put players drew a line of resistance in the sand at $130.00 and sold roughly 2,000 puts at the September $130 strike for an average premium of $4.98 apiece. Put sellers keep the full premium received as long as Netflix shares exceed $130.00 through expiration day. Otherwise, it seems these individuals are happy to have shares of the underlying stock put to them at an effective price of $125.02 each in the event the puts land in-the-money at expiration.
ULTA – Ulta Salon Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc. – Shares of the operator of full-service salons and retail stores that sell cosmetics, fragrance, haircare and skincare products in off-mall locations earlier declined as much as 8.9% to touch down at an intraday low of $20.67. Ulta’s shares dropped sharply after analysts at Jeffries & Co. lowered their price target on the beauty products provider to $25.00 from $27.00. The stock was able to crawl its way higher throughout the session, however, and is currently down just 2.25% on the day to arrive at $22.19 as of 3:20 pm ET. Options investors populating ULTA picked up put options following the target share price revision, and ahead of the firm’s second-quarter earnings report slated for release after the closing bell tomorrow evening. Traders expecting ULTA’s shares to slip once…
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Option Trader Irons Out Bullish Risk Reversal on Vale
by Option Review - November 25th, 2009 10:06 pm
Today’s tickers: VALE, GLD, BKC, VIX, IYR, GPS, CTXS, JPM, JCG, BKC, & TIF
VALE – Vale S.A. – Iron ore producer, Vale, experienced a more than 2.5% rally in shares during the trading session to arrive at a new 52-week high of $29.64. A bullish risk reversal in the March 2010 contract today indicates at least one investor is positioning for continued upward movement in the price of VALE shares by expiration. The trader sold approximately 3,300 puts at the March 26 strike for an average premium of 1.29 apiece in order to finance the purchase of roughly 3,300 calls at the higher March 32 strike for 1.59 each. The net cost of the transaction amounts to 30 cents per contract and positions the investor to amass profits if shares surpass the breakeven price of $32.30 by expiration. Shares must jump at least 9% from the current price to breach the effective breakeven point on the trade.
GLD – SPDR Gold Trust ETF – Shares of the gold exchange-traded fund, which replicates the performance of the price of gold bullion, rose 1.5% today to yet another all-time high of $116.43. We observed bullish activity in the June 2010 contract by one investor who initiated a call spread on the fund. It appears the trader purchased 13,265 calls at the June 125 strike for an average premium of 5.95 each, spread against the sale of the same number of calls at the higher June 150 strike for 2.10 apiece. The net cost of the gold-spread amounts to 3.85 per contract. The investor responsible for the trade accumulates profits if shares rally 11% from the current price and surpass the breakeven point at $128.85. Maximum potential profits of 21.15 per contract are available to the trader in the event that shares of the GLD surge 29% to $150.00 by expiration day in June of 2010.
BKC – Burger King Holdings, Inc. – Burger King-bulls bought nearly 4,700 calls at the in-the-money December 17.5 strike for an average premium of 50 cents apiece. Such activity suggests investors expect shares to rally through $18.00 – the breakeven point on the calls – by expiration in December. Bullish sentiment on the flame-broiled burger maker is perhaps inspired by strength in the fast-food restaurant sector. Cash-strapped consumers, wary of the 10.2% unemployment rate, are likely trading down from moderately priced eateries to cheaper nosh provided…
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Weekend Wrap-Up, Ripping Through the Top or Topping and About to Tip?
by phil - July 25th, 2009 12:34 pm
What a week this has been!
In last week's 600-Point Weekly Wrap-UP, I said it would take some spectacular earnings results next week to keep the rally going and it seems like we got them this week as roughly 85% of the companies reporting this week beat expectations with 42 of this week's reporting companies guiding up and only 18 guiding down. While people like Richard Bernstein may make very good arguments for why we shouldn't focus too much on quarterly earnings surprises, I have to say I am somewhat swayed by the preponderance of evidence we've gotten this week that, by and large, the vast majority of our companies are weathering the storm far better than analysts have expected.
"It's pretty amazing what passes for good news these days," remarks Barry Ritholtz on his blog, The Big Picture (www.ritholtz.com.) "Beating dramatically lowered earnings forecasts on cost-cutting and layoffs — rather than top-line growth — seems to be the order of the day. The irony is that the Wall Street analyst community overestimated earnings at the top of the cycle — pure extrapolation of trend to infinity. They seem to be doing the same thing now, only extrapolating falling earnings to zero. What that produces is not true upside surprises, but merely jumping over a dramatically lowered bar," he says.
It's interesting Barry says this now because it sounded familiar and I went back to my May 2nd Weekly Wrap-Up, where the sentiment was very similar and I said at the time: "With 2/3 of the S&P 500 weighing in, earnings have been 70% positive. I had warned earlier in the week that we are only beating a very low bar but we are beating nonetheless. As you can see from the above chart, even if we do keep moving up, we are heading into some very serious overhead resistance that may not prove futile this time. With the added pressure of the old "sell in May, go away" adage – there will be a lot of obstacles to overcome this week and next so we will remain on guard but we have also trained ourselves not to think and simply go with the flow, letting our levels guide us and, so far, our levels keep saying yes – despite our common sense…
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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.