Options Traders Brace For Shares In Yahoo To Extend Declines
by Option Review - June 24th, 2013 9:04 pm
Today’s tickers: YHOO, LVS & MED
YHOO - Yahoo! Inc. – Bearish options changing hands on Yahoo this morning indicate some traders are positioning for shares in the name to continue to selloff in the near term. Shares in YHOO are down 4.75% at $24.00 as of 11:55 a.m. ET amid a retreat in U.S. stocks. Traders snapped up at- and out-of-the-money weekly put options in the early going this morning, picking up around 400 of the Jun 28 ’13 $23.5 strike puts for an average premium of $0.18 apiece and roughly 540 puts at the Jun 28 ’13 $24 strike at an average premium of $0.30 each. Buyers of the $23.5 strike puts stand ready to profit at expiration this week should shares in Yahoo decline another 2.8% to breach the average breakeven point on the downside at $23.32. July expiry put options are also active today, with upwards of 6,000 of the $23 strike contracts in play as of the time of this writing. It looks like one trader purchased the bulk of the Jul $23 strike puts for an average premium of $0.53 apiece. The bearish position starts making money if the price of the underlying slips 6.4% from the current price of $24.00 to settle below the breakeven point at $22.47 by expiration next month. Finally, options traders also looked to the Aug $24 strike puts, picking up more than 3,500 contracts for an average premium of $1.12 apiece. Despite the weakness in YHOO shares today, the stock is still up more than 50% since this time last year.
LVS - Las Vegas Sands Corp. – Weekly put options purchased on Las Vegas Sands ahead of the weekend appear to be paying off for one strategist today, with shares in the name down more than 6.5% at $48.84 today on concerns over the credit crunch in China. Time and sales data suggests one trader picked up roughly 1,000 puts at the Jun 28 ’13 $50 strike on Friday morning for an average premium of $0.40…
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Bulls Bulk Up on Affymetrix Call Options
by Option Review - May 6th, 2011 4:13 pm
Today’s tickers: AFFX, AXP, WMG & MED
AFFX - Affymetrix, Inc. – Call options on the biotechnology company are in demand today, with shares in the maker of genetic analysis products rising as much as 6.3% to an intraday high of $6.25. The jump in options activity on the stock helped lift the overall reading of options implied volatility on Affymetrix 17.9% to 73.54% in early-afternoon trade. June in- and out-of-the-money calls are most active on AFFX today. It looks like the June $5.0 strike calls were also popular with bullish players during trading on Thursday. Open interest patterns in the calls suggest investors purchased 2,100 contracts at the June $5.0 strike yesterday for a premium of $0.95 each. The subsequent rally in the price of the underlying stock overnight combined with the sharp increase in implied volatility lifted the current asking price on the options to $1.50 each as of 1:25pm in New York. Options players hoping to see the price in Affymetrix shares continue to trend higher ahead of expiration day next month purchased the majority of the calls exchanged at the June $7.5 strike today. More than 2,000 calls changed hands at that strike on previously existing open interest of 561 contracts. The June $7.5 strike is the most heavily trafficked this afternoon, with buyers of the calls shelling out an average premium of $0.25 per contract for the options. Investors long the calls profit in the event that AFFX shares surge 24.0% over today’s high of $6.25 to surpass the average breakeven price of $7.75 by expiration day in June.
AXP - American Express Co. – Shares in the credit card company rallied as much as 1.9% this morning to touch an intraday- and nearly three-year high of $50.47. Trading in American Express options suggests investors differ…
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Contrarians Position for Medifast to Trim Losses
by Option Review - February 25th, 2011 4:03 pm
Today’s tickers: MED, AMD, NSM & AEM
MED - Medifast, Inc. – Shares in the maker of weight management products shed 12.0% this morning to touch down at an intra-session low of $22.19 following disappointing earnings from competitor NutriSystem, Inc. NTRI’s shares dropped 31.2% today to a fresh 52-week low of $13.90 post-earnings. Medifast’s earnings are just around the corner, with the report scheduled for release ahead of the opening bell on March 3, 2011. Despite the gloomy forecast out of NutriSystem, it looks like one investor is positioning for a more positive outcome from Medifast. The contrarian player appears to have purchased a debit call spread, buying 1,000 calls at the April $23 strike for an average premium of $2.19 each, and selling the same number of calls at an average premium of $0.99 apiece. The net cost of the bullish play amounts to $1.20 per contract and positions the trader to make money should MED’s shares bounce back up by around 9.0% to surpass the average breakeven point at $23.20 ahead of April expiration. Maximum potential profits of $1.80 per contract are available to the call-spreader if shares in Medifast rally 17.2% off today’s low of $22.19 to trade above $26.00 before the calls expire in April. The rise in demand for MED options helped lift options implied volatility on the stock 12.0% to 80.16% in early afternoon trade.
AMD - Advanced Micro Devices – A sizeable stock and options combination play on Advanced Micro Devices caught our eye this morning. It looks like one strategist initiated a delta neutral position on AMD in the July contract. Shares in the name are up 3.3% to arrive at $9.40 as of 12:50pm. The investor appears to have sold 319,000 shares of the underlying at a price of $9.34 each, and…
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Long-Term Bullish Strategies Detected in Gamestop Corp. Options
by Option Review - October 4th, 2010 5:27 pm
Today’s tickers: GME, CHE, PENN, JPM, MED, SLE & WYNN
GME - Gamestop Corp. – Bullish options strategies were initiated on the video game retailer today despite the 0.70% dip in the price of the underlying shares to $19.86. One long-term optimistic individual employed the use of a three-legged combination, selling puts to buy a call spread, in order to prepare for a rebound in Gamestop’s shares by April expiration. The investor purchased 3,000 calls at the April 2011 $20 strike for a premium of $2.13 each, sold 3,000 calls at the higher April 2011 $24 strike for premium of $0.72 apiece, and shed 3,000 puts at the April 2011 $16 strike at a premium of $0.81 a-pop. Net premium paid to initiate the spread amounts to $0.60 per contract. Thus, the trader is poised to profit should GME’s shares rally above the effective breakeven price of $20.60 by April expiration day. Maximum available profits of $3.40 per contract are safe in the investor’s wallet if the video game seller’s shares jump 20.85% over the current price of $19.86 to exceed $24.00 by expiration. Finally, a 3,000-lot October $20/$24 strike call spread traded around the same time as the three-legged transaction. Open interest in the near-term calls is sufficient to cover today’s volume. The investor responsible for the October contract activity may be rolling the spread up to the April contract and adding the short puts to provide additional financing on the bullish stance.
CHE - Chemed Corp. – Shares of the provider of hospice care as well as various consumer services such as plumbing and sewer cleaning via its Roto-Rooter segment slipped 2.00% to $55.34 as of 3:40 pm ET. Investors with a near-term bearish view on the stock appear to have sold 2,000 calls outright at the November $60 strike to pocket premium of $0.55 per contract. Call sellers keep the full premium received on the trade as long as Chemed’s shares fail to rally above $60.00 by expiration day next month. Investors could…
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Call Spreader Targets Ancestry.com, Inc. as Shares Soar to All-Time High
by Option Review - September 20th, 2010 4:48 pm
Today’s tickers: ACOM, DLB, S, FSIN, XLF, PDE, MED, KO & THC
ACOM – Ancestry.com, Inc. – Shares of the online family history resource surged 8.380% in afternoon trading to reach an all-time high of $22.76. The rally in Ancestry’s shares inspired one bullish options investor to purchase a plain-vanilla call spread in the February 2011 contract. It looks like the trader picked up 1,050 now in-the-money calls at the February 2011 $22.5 strike for an average premium of $2.82 each, and sold the same number of calls at the higher February 2011 $30 strike at an average premium of $0.55 a-pop. Net premium paid to establish the bullish spread amounts to $2.27 per contract. Thus, the trader is poised to profit should ACOM’s shares jump 8.8% over today’s high of $22.76 to surpass the average breakeven price of $24.77 by expiration day in February. Maximum potential profits of $5.23 per contract are available to the call-spreader if ACOM’s shares rally 31.8% to exceed $30.00 by February expiration.
DLB – Dolby Laboratories, Inc. – A short strangle on the provider of products and technologies created to enhance various aspects of entertainment media indicates one options investor expects Dolby’s shares to trade within a specified range through expiration in March 2011. Shares surged 6.3% to reach an intraday high of $59.46 by 2:30 pm ET after the stock was upgraded to ‘market outperform’ from ‘market perform’ with a 12-month target share price of $69.00 at Avondale Partners LLC. It looks like the strangle-seller sold roughly 3,000 puts at the March 2011 $50 strike at a premium of $2.46 each, and shed about the same number of calls at the higher March 2011 $65 strike for a premium of $2.80 apiece. Gross premium pocketed on the transaction amounts to $5.26 per contract. The investor responsible for the trade keeps the full premium received as long as Dolby’s shares trade within the boundaries of the strike prices described through expiration day next year. The premium received acts as a limited buffer against losses in the event that, at expiration, shares fail to trade within the specified price range. However, losses start to accumulate if DLB’s shares rally above the upper breakeven price of $70.26, or if shares nosedive to trade below the lower breakeven point at $44.74, ahead of expiration day in March. The increase in demand for options on the stock coupled…
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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. She manages the site