Options Player Plants Short Straddle on Health Management Associates
by Option Review - June 6th, 2011 4:15 pm
Today’s tickers: HMA, DELL, AWI & DISCA
HMA - Health Management Associates, Inc. – A sizable short straddle on the provider of health care services yields maximum benefits to the seller at expiration if the price of the underlying stock remains fairly stagnant in the next couple of months. Shares in Health Management Associates fell 1.75% this afternoon to $10.69 just before 12:30pm in New York. Options volume in the amount of 10,000 calls and 10,000 puts employed by the straddle-strategist is huge compared to overall previously existing open interest on HMA of 12,857 contracts. It looks like the trader sold the straddle outright, receiving $0.45 per contract on the sale of 10,000 calls at the August $11 strike, and taking in $0.90 per contract on the sale of 10,000 puts at the same strike. Gross premium pocketed on the trade amounts to $1.35 per contract, which the trader keeps in full if shares in HMA settle at $11.00 at expiration day in August. The investor may retain some portion of the $1.35 per contract as long as shares remain range-bound within the upper breakeven price of $12.35, and the lower breakeven point at $9.65, through expiration. Shares in the health care provider have traded above $9.65 since the end of February, and have not topped $12.35 since 2007. Of course, the options player need not hold the position through expiration to make the transaction worth his while. The effects of time erosion on options premium as well as lower volatility could be beneficial for the investor, and may allow him to buy back the straddle at an advantageous price at some point ahead of August expiration. Health Management Associates is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings after the closing bell on July 26, 2011.
DELL - Dell, Inc. – Shares in…
US Airways Group, Inc. Call Player at Work as Shares Take Off
by Option Review - June 2nd, 2010 4:45 pm
Today’s tickers: LCC, XLI, CXO, AMGN, DISH, GNW, DVN, WFR, DISCA & HIG
LCC – US Airways Group, Inc. – Shares of the operator of US Airways are trading higher by 7.50% to $9.29 in late afternoon trading after earlier rallying more than 10.50% to secure a new 52-week high of $9.55. The jump in shares prompted one bullish investor to bank profits on a previously established long call position as well as initiate fresh optimistic stances on the stock. US Airways Group’s shares were helped higher, along with shares of other airline operators, after Continental Airlines Inc. posted better-than-expected monthly unit revenue for May. The LCC-bull appears to have originally purchased approximately 29,000 calls at the June $10 strike for an average premium of $0.23 apiece back on May 26, 2010, when shares of the underlying stock were trading at a volume-weighted average price of $8.33. Today, the trader sold 28,900 calls at the June $10 strike for a premium of $0.45 each to pocket net profits of $0.22 per contract. The same investor then extended optimism on US Airways Group, Inc. by purchasing 25,900 fresh calls at the higher June $11 strike for a premium of $0.24 each. The new June $11 strike call position readies the investor to amass profits should LCC’s shares rally 17.7% over the stock’s new high of $9.55 to surpass the effective breakeven price of $11.24 by expiration. Finally, the trader extended high hopes for a significant rally in US Airways’ shares by picking up another 21,450 calls at the July $12 strike for a premium of $0.32 per contract. The July contract call options yield profits to the bullish player if shares of the airline operator surge 29% to exceed the breakeven price of $12.32 ahead of July expiration.
XLI – Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund – Put strategists populating the XLI, an exchange-traded fund designed to provide investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the Industrial Select Sector of the S&P 500 Index, initiated bullish and bearish transactions on the fund today. Shares of the ETF are currently trading 2.00% higher on the day at $29.52 as of 3:05 pm (ET). The first of the two large trades observed on the XLI was enacted by an investor selling-to-close a large-volume long put stance in the June contract. It looks like the trader originally purchased 27,000 puts at…
Call Buyers Flock to Cisco After Broker Upgrade
by Option Review - July 20th, 2009 5:50 pm
Today’s tickers: CSCO, TGT, LVS, DISCA, HGSI, OREX, EWJ & GE
LVS – Investors of the hotel and casino operator have enjoyed a more than 15.5% rally in shares of LVS to $9.95. The stock jumped after the firm announced plans to “apply for an initial public offering of shares in its Macau casinos in Hong Kong as early as next month”. Option traders hoping for a continued rally, were seen purchasing call options in the near-term August contract. The August 12 strike price had 1,700 calls bought for 40 cents apiece while the higher August 13 strike also had 1,700 lots coveted for about 26 cents each. The stock would need to improve 33% from the current price in order for August 13 strike call-buyers to profit at the breakeven price of $13.26.…