Macy’s Call Options On Trend As Shares Extend Rally
by Option Review - January 6th, 2012 1:52 pm
Today’s tickers: M, HLF, CSC & WSM
M - Macy’s, Inc. – The department store operator’s shares are on a tear following better-than-expected retail sales data out earlier in the week. Macy’s, Inc. shares tacked on another 2.6% today to secure a four-year high of $34.80. Trading in call options on the retailer is outpacing that of puts roughly 2.5 contracts to one, with overall volume up at 18,000 lots as of 12:45 PM in New York. Investors snapped up out-of-the-money calls in the front month, suggesting the stock may have more room to run in the near term. Call buyers looked to the Jan. $35 strike, picking up around 1,400 contracts for an average premium of $0.58 a-pop. Volume was heaviest up at the Jan. $36 strike where more than 4,200 calls traded against open interest of 1,463 contracts. Trading traffic in the calls was mixed, with buyers and sellers facing an average premium of $0.26 apiece. Finally, far out-of-the-money call options with a low probability of landing in-the-money at expiration attracted traders willing to pay an average premium of $0.09 apiece for roughly 2,000 contracts at the Jan. $38 strike. Investors long the $38 strike calls profit at expiration if shares in Macy’s jump 9.5% to top $38.09.
HLF - Herbalife, Ltd. – Shares in the provider of weight management products rallied 1.6% to $52.04 this morning, but the stock has underperformed some competitors since the start of the New Year. Weight Watchers shares are currently up 17.8% year-to-date, while Herbalife’s shares have lost 1.2% of their value in the same period. Though the stock is presently in the red for the new calendar year, activity in HLF call options suggests some traders are positioning for substantial gains in the name ahead of February expiration. Investors traded more than 2,000 calls at the…
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Put Players See More Pain Ahead For Computer Sciences Corp.
by Option Review - November 10th, 2011 1:59 pm
Today’s tickers: CSC, SGY, JPM & UNH
CSC - Computer Sciences Corp. – Bearish traders snapped up put options on the provider of information technology services straight out of the gate this morning, a sign the already hard-hit stock may have further to fall before the current calendar year concludes. Shares in Computer Sciences Corp. opened sharply lower, one day after the company reduced its fiscal 2012 profit estimate and reported a second-quarter net loss of $2.88 billion. Excluding some items the company earned $0.94 a share in the quarter, more than the $0.68 a share anticipated by analysts, on average. CSC’s shares closed Wednesday’s session down 15.0%, and extended losses on Thursday, falling 8.0% this morning to an intraday low of $25.67. The stock was cut to ‘Underweight’ from ‘Neutral’ at JPMorgan today. Investors positioning for the stock to continue to decline picked up deep out-of-the-money November and December expiry puts that look for the price of the underlying to suffer additional double-digit declines in the near future. Bears populating the front month picked up more than 700 puts at the Nov. $25 strike for an average premium of $0.58 each, and purchased some 400 put options at the lower Nov. $22.5 strike at an average premium of $0.15 a-pop. Options volume on the stock is heaviest, however, in the December expiry. One trader appears to have purchased a block of 5,000 put options at the Dec. $20 strike for a premium of $0.30 each. The put player may profit at expiration next month in the event that CSC shares plunge 23.25% off today’s low of $25.67 to breach the effective breakeven price of $19.70. Finally, Dec. $22.5 strike puts were popular this morning, as well, with some 1,300 of the options having been purchased for an average premium of $0.59 apiece. Computer Sciences Corp. shares are down a staggering 55.0% off the February 8, 2010, 52-week high of $56.51. Options implied volatility on CSC is up better than 40.0% to stand at 69.2% as of 11:50 AM in New York.
SGY - Stone Energy Corp. – The independent oil and natural gas company popped up on our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner today due to heavier-than-usual activity in its calls. Shares in Stone Energy Corp. are up more than 5.1% this afternoon to stand at $26.25 as of 12:50 PM ET, and it looks like some traders are gearing up for…
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Bulls Position for Near-Term Rally in TJX Companies
by Option Review - January 5th, 2011 4:58 pm
Today’s tickers: TJX, TIVO, BP, CSC, ANF, GT & OCR
TJX - TJX Companies, Inc. – Near-term bullish options traders are betting on a rebound in shares of the operator of the largest off-price retail chains, T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, by picking up call options in the January contract this afternoon. Shares in TJX Companies fell 1.30% in the final hour of the session to $43.01, recovering off an earlier intraday low of $42.55. TJX shares are down 4.0% since December 30, and have lost a total of 8.9% since November 5, 2010, when shares touched a 6-month high of $47.21. Investors positioning for a rally in TJX Companies are perhaps hopeful shares will rebound following the release of December same-store sales data. Optimistic traders scooped up more than 2,600 calls at the January $44 strike for an average premium of $0.49 apiece. Call buyers at this strike stand ready to accrue profits should shares rise 3.4% to exceed the average breakeven price of $44.49 ahead of January expiration. Bullish sentiment spread to the higher January $45 strike where nearly 1,000 call options were purchased at an average premium of $0.24 a-pop. Higher-strike call buyers make money if TJX shares rally 5.2% to trade above the average breakeven point at $45.24 before the contracts expire in a couple of weeks.
TIVO - TiVo, Inc. – Massive prints in deep out-of-the-money call options on TiVo today appear to be the work of outright bullish players speculating that shares in the television technology firm could more than double by May expiration. Shares in TiVo are up sharply by 8.07% this afternoon to stand at $9.78 as of 2:40pm in New York. TiVo, Inc. is participating in the Citi 21st Annual Global Entertainment, Media and Telecommunications Conference today. Investors hoping to see TiVo’s shares rebound to prices not seen since April of 2010 purchased debit call spreads during the first half of the trading session. Approximately 20,000 calls were picked up at the May $17.5 strike for an average…
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Pessimism on Alcoa Apparent as Bears Bulk Up on Put Options
by Option Review - October 15th, 2010 4:31 pm
Today’s tickers: AA, SWKS, WDC & CSC
AA - Alcoa, Inc. – Bearish options traders decided to pay Alcoa a visit this morning in order to pick up large numbers of put options in the November contract. Shares of the aluminum giant fell as much as 2.7% in the first half of the session to touch an intraday low of $12.77, but have recovered somewhat as of 11:50 a.m. to stand 0.60% lower on the day at $13.05. Pessimistic players piled into put options at the November $13 strike where more than 32,600 contracts changed hands by midday. It looks like the majority of the activity was initiated by one bearish individual who purchased approximately 23,000 puts at that strike at a premium of $0.55 per contract. The investor may be utilizing the puts to protect an existing position in the underlying shares. Alternatively, this transaction may represent an outright bearish bet on the aluminum maker. The put buyer starts to make money if Alcoa’s shares fall 4.6% from the current price of $13.05 to breach the effective breakeven point to the downside at $12.45 by expiration day next month. Alcoa’s overall reading of options implied volatility is up 6.6% at 36.02% as of 11:55 a.m. in New York trading.
SWKS - Skyworks Solutions, Inc. – Shares of the chip making company that supplies semiconductors for cellular devices such as Apple’s iPhone rallied as much as 3.1% this morning to secure a new 52-week high of $21.98. Options traders populating the stock focused their attention almost exclusively in November contract put options despite the rise in the price of the underlying shares. The majority of options volume generated on SWKS today appears to be involved in a sizeable debit put spread. It looks like one investor picked up 7,500 puts at the November $21 strike for a premium of $1.02 each, and sold the same number of puts at the lower November $20 strike at a premium of $0.62 apiece. Net premium paid for the spread…
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Investor Optimism Apparent in Yahoo! Options Action
by Option Review - July 8th, 2010 5:59 pm
Today’s tickers: YHOO, PG, MWW, PWER, IYR, HRB, ANF, CSC & EWH
YHOO – Yahoo!, Inc. – The online media company made an appearance on our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner after one investor initiated a long-term bullish stance on the stock. Yahoo’s shares increased 1.10% to stand at $14.56 by 3:05 pm (ET). Optimism on the operator of one of the most heavily trafficked Internet destinations was perhaps inspired by words from the firm’s CFO, Tim Morse, who intends to end the company’s pattern of poor M&A decisions. Morse addressed Yahoo’s history of overpaying for acquisitions and later selling those assets at a disadvantageous price by announcing plans to improve the company’s return on invested capital to 18% to 24% in 2013 from approximately 5% in 2009. One optimistic options trader opted to purchase a plain-vanilla debit call spread on Yahoo! in order to position for share price appreciation through expiration in January 2011. The investor picked up 5,000 in-the-money calls at the January 2011 $14 strike for a premium of $1.92 apiece, and sold the same number of calls at the higher January 2011 $17.5 strike for a premium of $0.58 each. Net premium paid to establish the spread amounts to $1.34 per contract. Thus, the bullish trader makes money if Yahoo’s shares rally 5.35% to trade above the effective breakeven point on the spread at $15.34 by expiration day in January 2011. The investor exits with maximum potential profits of $2.16 per contract if the online media company’s shares surge 20.2% over the current price of $14.56 to trade above $17.50 by expiration.
PG – The Proctor & Gamble Co. – Investor demand for call options on the global provider of branded packaged consumer goods surged during afternoon trading with options participants exchanging more than 4.4 calls on the stock to each single put option in play thus far in the session. PG’s shares rallied 1.7% to $61.85 by 3:30 pm (ET). It looks like bullish players expecting Proctor & Gamble’s shares to trade at a new 52-week high by August expiration purchased at least 17,900 calls options at the August $65 strike for an average premium of $0.21 per contract. Call buyers are poised to profit should shares of the underlying stock jump 5.4%, surpass the stock’s current 52-week high of $64.10, and trade above the average breakeven price of $65.21 by August expiration.…
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D.R. Horton Rally Attracts Option Bulls
by Option Review - August 7th, 2009 4:05 pm
Today’s tickers: DHI, MBI, CROX, CSC
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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.