Hold Onto Your Cardigan, Options See Further Upside For Ann
by Option Review - April 3rd, 2012 1:45 pm
Today’s tickers: ANN, CONN & RNDY
ANN - Ann, Inc. – The operator of Ann Taylor and LOFT brand stores popped up on our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner after a large spread was established in the June expiry calls. Shares in Ann, Inc. are trading up 1.2% at $29.13 in early-afternoon trade. The stock has had a tremendous run in the past two months, up 31.5% off the February 2nd year-to-date low of $22.14, and it looks like one options player is positioning for the shares to extend gains through June expiration. The strategist appears to have purchased a 5,000-lot June $31/$34 call spread for an average premium of $0.75 per contract, thus positioning him or her to profit in the event that Ann’s shares rally another 9.0% to surpass the average breakeven price of $31.75. Maximum potential profits of $2.25 per contract are available on the spread as long as the apparel retailer’s shares rise 16.7% to trade above $34.00 at June expiration. The debit call spread comprising 10,000 option contracts is gargantuan next to the stock’s 90-day average options volume of 577 contracts, and is sizable in comparison to ANN’s overall open interest of 15,090 positions.
CONN - Conn’s, Inc. – Premiums on Conn’s, Inc. call options are soaring this morning to the delight of some traders that appear to have initiated bullish positions on the specialty retailer of home appliances and consumer electronics prior to the fourth-quarter earnings report. Shares in Conn’s jumped 20.3% to $19.83 – the highest intraday price since September 2008 – after the Company swung to a fourth-quarter profit and projected better-than-expected fiscal 2013 earnings of at least $1.20 a share. Open interest in the April and May $17.5 strike calls suggest some traders snapped up the bullish contracts as…