A Put-Selling Taunt For Microsoft Bears
by Option Review - August 12th, 2011 3:38 pm
Today’s tickers: MSFT, ALL & INTU
MSFT - Microsoft Corp. – The June low for shares in computer-maker Microsoft at $23.65 remains the low-water mark despite a 14.6% slump over the last two weeks. The selling pressure stopped on Tuesday with buyers gathering at $24.03 to support the stock. Over the remainder of the week its shares have added a further $1.25 to trade at $25.28. So while the broad market suffered a far worse fate, Microsoft bulls were loading up to the gills. One option investor wanting to make sure he doesn’t miss the boat on Friday appears determined to do better over the next three months. This options trader sold 3,000 put options at the $25 strike price expiring in October at a premium of $1.45. Writing options conveys certain obligations. In this case the investor must pay $25 for shares in the company at expiration if the share price is below the strike price at the time. While that might seem risky given the proximity of the strike price to what buyers and sellers agree Microsoft is worth today, the $1.45 premium means that in the event of having its shares put to him, the investor is effectively setting a purchase price of $23.55 or 10-cents below the June low. The position will also benefit is the broad market stops its vicious gyrations and implied volatility continues to pare its gain. Already today Microsoft’s implied volatility reading slipped by about 10% to a reading of 32%.
ALL - Allstate Corp. – Shares in the giant-insurer missed out on a Friday rally that helped build investor confidence, but one sizeable options trade points to a recovery within five months for Allstate. Its shares were lower by 1% at $25.42 and within just 6% of its very recent 52-week low. At the start of May investors shared confidence in Allstate along with a bullish view of the broader market when both valuations reached a climax. Allstate at the time traded to $34.38. Undeterred by the…
Bulls Bombard Research in Motion Ahead of BlackBerry 9800 Launch
by Option Review - July 28th, 2010 5:21 pm
Today’s tickers: RIMM, INTU, LVS, RRC, MHS, HSP & CHS
RIMM – Research in Motion Limited – Optimistic options players populated the Blackberry maker’s August contract, selling puts and buying calls to prepare for the price of the underlying stock to continue climbing ahead of expiration day next month. RIMM’s shares rallied as much as 4.53% today to an intraday high of $55.59 on reports the Canadian company will reveal its new touch screen BlackBerry in New York next Tuesday. Investors are chomping at the bit to see if the BlackBerry 9800 can give iPhone maker, Apple, a run for its money – or market share. RIMM’s shares have bounced up off their early-July lows, but the recovery could be short-lived if the 9800 turns out to be a disappointment. Traders hoping to see a successful launch of the touch screen device, and subsequent share price appreciation, employed bullish strategies. Investors picked up at least 3,800 calls at the now in-the-money August $55 strike for an average premium of $2.15 apiece. Buying interest spread to the higher August $57.5 strike where 3,900 calls were purchased at an average premium of $1.16 each. Uber-bulls bought roughly 2,900 call options at the August $60 strike for an average premium of $0.68 a-pop. Investors long the August $60 strike calls are poised to profit should RIMM’s shares surge 9.25% to surpass the average breakeven price of $60.68 by August expiration. The sale of out-of-the-money put options is another bullish signal investors are itching for the current rally to continue. Traders sold some 2,000 puts at the August $50 strike for an average premium of $0.55 each, and shed another 5,200 puts at the higher August $52.5 strike for an average premium of $1.21 apiece. In total, options players exchanged more than 91,300 contracts on Research in Motion by 3:40 pm ET. Options implied volatility on RIMM is up 3.4% to 43.85% ahead of the final bell.
INTU – Intuit Inc. – The provider of business and financial management solutions popped up on our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner late in the trading session after one options strategist initiated a bearish transaction in the October contract. Intuit’s shares are down slightly by 0.15% to stand at $39.50 as of 3:15 pm ET. It looks like the trader bought a plain-vanilla debit put spread, buying 6,346 puts at the October $37.5 strike for a…