Posts Tagged
‘MOT’
by Option Review - October 21st, 2010 4:04 pm
Today’s tickers: HLF, REE, XLB, BIDU, DAL, RSH & MOT
HLF - Herbalife, Ltd. – It looks like one cautiously optimistic options trader initiated a delta neutral hedge on the maker of weight management, nutritional supplement and personal care products this afternoon ahead of the firm’s third-quarter earnings announcement scheduled for release after the close on November 1, 2010. Herbalife’s shares are currently down 1.25% to stand at $63.20 as of 3:45 p.m. in New York trading. The investor appears to have picked up 58,000 Herbalife shares at a price of $63.76 each as well as 2,000 calls on a 0.29 delta for a premium of $1.45 per contract. The long stance taken in HLF shares suggests the trader is bullish on the stock and expecting shares to climb higher. But, the put options serve as downside protection in case the investor’s inclinations fail to align with the performance of the stock going forward. The put options will be well worth the added premium if earnings are disappointing and shares head lower ahead of November expiration day.
REE - Rare Element Resources, Ltd. – The Canada-based company that was the target of bullish options trading just 24 hours ago has transformed into a hub of bearish activity. Shares in Rare Element Resources, which own the Bear Lodge mine in Wyoming, fell as much as 27.05% from yesterday’s high of $13.71 to an intraday low of $10.00. Despite the substantial decline today the current price of the stock is still up roughly 260% since August 20, 2010, when shares were around $2.80 each. Pessimistic players took to the options field on REE to place bearish bets on the stock. Investors expecting shares to continue lower picked up put options and sold call options in the November and December contracts. Traders picked up…
Tags: BIDU, DAL, HLF, MOT, REE, RSH, XLB
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by Option Review - September 16th, 2010 5:22 pm
Today’s tickers: MOT, RIMM, WMB, CAG, PFCB & SAI
MOT – Motorola, Inc. – Shares of the maker of the Droid smartphone fell in morning trading but recovered during the session to add as much as 3 pennies or 0.35% to arrive at an intraday-high of $8.39 this afternoon. Motorola appeared on our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner today after one options player appears to have booked profits on a previously established bullish position. It looks like the investor originally purchased roughly 28,000 calls at the September $7.0 strike for an average premium of $0.70 each back on August 19, 2010, when MOT shares were trading at a volume-weighted average price of $7.55. The appreciation in the price of the underling since the calls were purchased lifted premium on the September $7.0 strike calls, allowing the trader to sell the contracts for $1.35 in premium apiece today. Net profits on the transaction amount to $0.65 per contract. Next, it looks like the bullish player re-opened, or rolled, the position to the higher October $8.0 strike where approximately 28,000 calls were picked up at an average premium of $0.10 a-pop. The investor starts to make money on the fresh batch of calls if Motorola’s shares surge 8.5% over the current price of $8.39 to surpass the effective breakeven price of $9.10 by expiration. We note that the investor may walk away with profits on the new long call position before October expiration if circumstances going forward lift the premium on those calls and the trader opts to sell the position at an advantageous price.
RIMM – Research in Motion Ltd. – Options on the Blackberry maker are a hot ticket item today ahead of the firm’s second-quarter earnings report scheduled for release after the closing bell this afternoon. Frenzied trading ensued right out of the gate this morning with investors heavily trafficking in September and October contract call and put options. Shares are currently up 1.1% at $46.02 as of 1:45 pm ET, but earlier rallied as much as 2.3% to reign in an intraday high of $46.58. The overall reading of options implied volatility on the stock increased 5.1% in the first half of the session to top out at 58.22%, but has come off to stand just 2.6% higher on the day at 56.82%. Although more than 1.7 call options changed hands for each single put on…
Tags: CAG, MOT, PFCB, RIMM, SAI, WMB
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by Option Review - July 15th, 2010 4:03 pm
Today’s tickers: BP, MOT, JPM & SWY
BP – BP Plc – ADR – Continuing to buck the broader market shares in BP are again in the green with a 2.4% gain at $37.02 while the S&P 500 is resigned to trading off weakness in manufacturing data. Options strategies continue to appear on the most actively traded scanner and today’s pick is a bullish ratio call spread play in the January 2011 contract. An investor bought 1,000 $45 strike calls and sold 2,000 $50 strike calls for a net credit of 20 cents. The investor clearly expects the rally to continue and has a $50 target in mind. Up until that point he has a free ride, actually taking in a $40,000 credit for the trade up front, while the position wouldn’t turn sour until $55 when profits grown from above $45 are equally offset by losses growing at twice the rate at a share price above $50. Implied options volatility continues to indicate that investors are more comfortable with the outlook and has dipped 7% to stand today at around 63%.
MOT – Motorola Inc. – It took three months for shares in the cellphone-maker to recover from a slide to almost $6.00 back up to $7.75. And of course the next quarter was spent undoing the gains yielding a near-perfect channel for traders to mark their entries. Today shares once again hit the top of the range after a three-day killing streak propelled them almost 15% higher. A bearish strategy seems to be coincident with today’s movement and involves the curious trade-in of deeply in-the-money puts at the $12.50 strike January 2012 expiration in exchange for sold calls at the same expiration $7.50 strike. The near 5,000 calls traded at an average price of $1.48 while the puts traded at $5.25. This trade is curious today to see the least and one explanation is that the recent revival of Motorola’s fortunes may have been enough to inspire an exit from this bearish position, which initially would have been long calls and short puts.
JPM – JPMorgan Chase & Co. – The earnings warm-up show failed to last the course this morning and a pre-market gain for the company surpassing estimates was quickly lost in the muddy waters of a slowing economy. Its shares are now lower on the day at $39.46 with investors eager to take advantage of…
Tags: BP, JPM, MOT, SWY
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by Option Review - February 12th, 2010 4:37 pm
Today’s tickers: MOT, ALL, BWLD, BONT & X
MOT – Motorola Inc. – The Shares are almost 8% higher at $7.20 on the news that the company will split into two with networks on one side and mobile devices on the other. Shares are on the move because this probably reflects management’s confidence in the turnaround for mobile devices. It appears that one option investor is looking for further upside and placed a 20,000 lot call option spread when shares were trading at about $6.95 this morning. The spread involved the purchase of now in-the-money April call options at the $6.00 strike, which cost $1.12. The buyer sold the same amount of $9.00 strike calls expiring at the same time for 7 cents to reduce the breakeven to $7.05 in two months. It is likely that this investor wants to take a stake in the company now that it’s announced this corporate split and as long as Motorola’s shares stay north of $6.00 in April, he will be able to exercise that option.
ALL – Allstate Corp. – Looks like a substantial amount of call option buying in the home and auto insurer today as its share price holds up relatively well in the face of a 1% loss for the major market averages. At $29.36 shares are off by just a nickel, possibly still sheltered by a 22.7% surge in revenue and earnings that exceeded investor hopes earlier in the week. Call option buying at the April expiration $31 strike has so far totaled more than 22,000 contracts. Buyers paying around 65 cents per contract for rights to get long of shares in the insurer should they rally by more than 5.6% in the next nine weeks are clearly banking on a rebound to the January peak above $31.50. Implied volatility has slumped in the aftermath of earnings further eroding the premiums today.
BWLD – Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. – An earnings miss earlier in the day from the Minneapolis-based restaurant operator attracted option investor attention today. The activity is curious simply because it’s contrarian. The share price slumped more than 12% earlier to $41.28 before steadying to $43.00. The decline in options implied volatility to 37% is twice the decline in the share price and is perhaps behind investors willingness to write almost 2,000 put options at the soon to expire February $40 strike. Premium sellers, who…
Tags: ALL, BONT, BWLD, MOT, X
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by phil - January 29th, 2010 5:57 pm
Another week another 100 points lower.
Yep, that's all it was, we lost all of 100 points more than last week, when we fell from 10,725 to 10,172 (553 points) and this week we dropped from Friday's Dow close of 10,172 all the way down to 10,067 yet you would think the world had come to an end to hear the media and the traders freaking out. I'm not going to try to explain it, I can't. Maybe it's because going into last week we were very bearish but, starting on the 22nd, we let ourselves finally get a little more bullish AND THE MARKET BETRAYED US!
How could the market not zoom right back up? It always zooms right back up, doesn't it? As I said a week ago Friday: "Boy, when sentiment shifts – it REALLY shifts!" My closing comment on Friday the 22nd was "Back to cash but leaving disaster hedges, which are looking great now as this is shaping up to be some disaster" and our weekend "Global Chart Review" showed us to be at some very key inflection points, letting us go well prepared into this week:
My Jets lost on Sunday so I was not in the best of moods on Monday. My outlook that morning was: "We still have our disaster hedges in case things get worse but, on the whole, we’re expecting a 1% bounce in the very least off our 5% lines (anything less will be a bad sign)." We were pretty much at the 5% rule on Friday's close so we focused on the bounce we wanted to achieve in order to get more bullish.
I noted that the levels we were looking for were not exactly 1% retraces (see post for reasons) and our target retraces were: Dow 10,300, S&P 1,105, Nasdaq 2,225, NYSE 7,100 and Russell 625. What were the highs for the week on those indexes? Dow 10,310 (+10), S&P 1,103 (-2), Nasdaq 2,227 (+2), NYSE 7,098 (-2) and Russell 621 (-4). So that's a net of +4 points out of 21,355 points worth of predictions on the retrace, accuracy to within .019% - not a bad showing for our patented 5% rule.
Please, under NO circumstances subscribe to our daily newsletter, where you would have this kind of information every morning and…
Tags: AAPL, ABX, AMAT, AMZN, BRK B, CME, DIA, EDZ, FDX, FTR, GOOG, GS, INTC, LVS, MBI, MOT, PBT, QLD, QQQQ, RSX, SDS, SLX, SYMC, T, TASR, TBT, VZ, XOM, YRCW
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by phil - January 5th, 2010 8:27 am
Wow – what a lot of work to get back to last Tuesday's high!
As usual, the vast majority of gains came in pre-market trading and the rest came in light-volume, early morning trading while the rest of the day was dominated by every buyer finding a willing seller for 75% of the day's volume. We saw what happened on Thursday when someone big wants to sell and there are no buyers so we'll see how long the bull's luck (manufactured or otherwise) will hold out as we begin to get economic data along with some early earnings reports.
The Ag sector popped 2% yesterday ahead of tonight's earings from MOS with MON checking in tomorrow morning so we'll see how wise those last-minute bets were in short order. SONC also has earnings tonight and we like those guys long-term. SONC makes a decent buy/write candidate as you can buy the stock for $10.29 and sell June $10 puts and calls for $2.25 for a net entry of $8.04 with a very nice 24% profit if called away at $10 and an average entry of $9.02 (a 12% discount) if more stock is put to you below $10 in June.
FDO and WOR also report tomorrow morning. FDO will be interesting but a weak dollar probably hurt them last quarter. Tomorrow night we hear from BBBY, BLUD, OHB and Sonic competitor RT, who seem a bit pricey at $7.50. Thursday we get our first real builder, LEN along with STZ and TXI. After the bell on Thursday we hear from APOL, CRI and SCHN with GBX and PSMT on Friday. AA officially kicks of earnings season next Monday with GAP, INFY, KBH, BGG, SCHW, SHFL, INTC and JPM highlighting the reporters.
We have plenty of data this week including Factory Orders and Pending Home Sales at 10 am along with December Auto Sales throughout the day (did you get a new car for Christmas?). Tomorrow is jobs day, with the ADP Report and Challenger Job Cuts ahead of the bell followed by ISM Services (yesterday's ISM was a nice beat) and, of course, Crude Inventories at 10:30 which are unlikely to sustain $82 oil (USO Jan $40 puts for .80 are a good way to play this). We talked about the other stuff yesterday so I won't repeat it – suffice to say…
Tags: AA, AAPL, APOL, BBBY, BGG, BLUD, CBY, CRI, ERIC, FDO, GAP, GBX, GOOG, Greece, Iceland, INFY, INTC, JPM, KBH, KFT, LEN, MON, MOS, MOT, MSFT, NOK, OHB, PALM, PSMT, RIMM, RT, SCHN, SCHW, SNE, SONC, STZ, TXI, USO, WOR
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by ilene - November 11th, 2009 7:08 pm
Courtesy of Eric J. Fox at The Market Prognosticator
It was reported today that Motorola (MOT) is shopping around its division that makes set top boxes and other equipment for cable and phone companies. The rumored asking price is around $4.5 billion.
That sounds great, but unfortunately for Motorola and its shareholders, the company paid $11 billion for it 10 years ago. Read how management gushed over it back then:
"This partnership will enable us to expand our portfolio for network access, delivering next-generation solutions along with ‘home hubs’ that will handle high-speed Internet access and video entertainment, as well as carrier-quality voice services," Motorola chief executive Christopher B. Galvin said. "People want access tailored their way and the ability to get online quickly and simply."
Some might say that Motorola didn’t really pay $11 billion since it issued its own stock to complete the purchase. This is nonsense of course.
Deals like this might be a contributing reason to explain why Motorola stock has been a disappointment to many investors.
Tags: MOT, Motorola, set top box division, stock
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by Option Review - October 29th, 2009 4:54 pm
Today’s tickers: HGSI, MSTR, INTC, FXI, EFA, AA, AVP, RDC, PLL, FSLR, MOT & AKAM
HGSI – Human Genome Sciences, Inc. – Shares of the biopharmaceutical company made a miraculous recovery since yesterday’s slaughter by exploding 13.25% higher during the session to $20.40. Traders populated various contracts with bullish plays after HGSI was raised to ‘overweight’ from ‘neutral’ with a 12-month target share price of $25.00 at JPMorgan. Heavy call volume in the November contract was likely driven by traders anticipating results of Phase 3 trials employed to evaluate the efficacy of HGSI’s potential drug treatment for lupus, Benlysta. Trading at the November 20/25/30 strike prices mimicked the butterfly spread strategy, and suggests perhaps that traders expect shares to rise to $25.00 by expiration. Investors bought at least 3,500 calls at the November 20 strike for 1.88 apiece as well as purchased 3,500 calls at the November 30 strike for 60 cents each. These contracts effectively mimic the wings of the spread while the 9,000 calls sold at the central November 25 strike perhaps represent the body of the spread. Call spreads were initiated in both the December and January contracts. The December transaction, for example, involved the purchase of 1,000 calls at the December 25 strike for 2.60 each, spread against the sale of 1,000 calls at the higher December 30 strike for 1.00 apiece. The net cost of the trade amounts to 1.60 per contract. Thus, the investor may accumulate maximum potential profits of 3.40 per contract if shares of HGSI rally up to $30.00 by expiration day in December.
MSTR – Microstrategy, Inc. – The software company appeared on our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner this afternoon due to bullish options activity. Investors initiated optimistic plays on the stock despite the 1% decline in shares to $73.03. Profit-taking action appeared in the January 2010 contract while fresh positions were taken in the April 2010 contract. It looks like one investor originally purchased 3,600 calls at the now in-the-money January 70 strike for an average premium of between 3.00 to 3.50 per contract back on July 31, 2009. Today the trader sold the calls for a whopping 7.20 apiece. Net profits enjoyed on the closing sale amount to a minimum of 3.70 up to 4.20 each. Thus, total potential profits earned by the trader are anywhere from $1,332,000 to $1,512,000. In the April contract a bullish risk…
Tags: AA, AKAM, AVP, EFA, FSLR, FXI, HGSI, INTC, MOT, MSTR, PLL, RDC
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by Option Review - September 14th, 2009 5:51 pm
Today’s tickers: DOW, XLF, FMCN, MAR, CAT, S & MOT
DOW - The manufacturer of chemicals, plastic materials, and other specialized products jumped onto our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner this afternoon amid a more than 7% rally in shares to $25.30. Option traders displayed bullish tendencies as investors exchanged nearly two call options to each put traded on the stock. The near-term September contract had traders buying up both calls and puts. Bullish call buying occurred at the now in-the-money September 25 strike where more than 6,100 calls were picked up for an average premium of 33 cents each. More optimistic individuals purchased some 1,100 calls at the higher September 26 strike for 27 cents premium. Investors also locked in gains by buying 4,300 puts at the September 24 strike for 25 cents each. An additional chunk of 5,600 puts were scooped up at the higher September 25 strike for 56 cents apiece. Investors purchasing the puts probably hold long positions in the underlying stock. Finally, the October 26 strike was also targeted by bullish traders who bought about 2,000 calls for 85 cents per contract. The intraday shift in option implied volatility on DOW suggests investors are anticipating greater fluctuation in the price of the underlying shares. Volatility increased 12% during the session, rising up to a high of 51.5% from an intraday low of 46%. – The Dow Chemical Co. –
XLF - A large-volume bearish reversal caught our eye on the financials exchange-traded fund as shares of the underlying spent the better part of the trading session in the red. However, the XLF has recovered this afternoon to stand more than 0.5% higher at $14.63. The massive options reversal enacted in the October contract suggests at least one trader does not expect to see the fund climb much higher over the next five weeks. The transaction involved the sale of 35,000 calls at the October 15 strike for 39 cents apiece spread against the purchase of 35,000 puts at the lower October 14 strike for 49 cents per contract. The net cost of getting long the puts amounts to just 10 pennies each. It is likely the investor responsible for the spread holds a long position in the underlying stock. If this is indeed the case, he has established downside protection that would kick in if shares of the XLF fell beneath the breakeven point…
Tags: CAT, DOW, FMCN, MAR, MOT, S, XLF
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by Option Review - July 2nd, 2009 4:22 pm
Today’s tickers: MOT, AXP, JOSB & ILMN
MOT – A large-volume bullish reversal initiated in the October contract on MOT today suggests some investors are positioning for a rally. Currently shares are off by more than 3% to stand to $6.25. Perhaps traders are anticipating that Motorola’s new lineup of phones, based on Google’s Android operating system, will boost sales for the firm. It appears that approximately 15,000 puts were sold at the October 5.0 strike price for 14 cents apiece in order to partially fund the purchase of 15,000 calls at the October 7.0 strike for 34 cents per contract. The net cost of the bullish stance amounts to 20 cents. Thus, shares of MOT would need to rev upward by 15% from the current price to $7.20 in order for investors to profit by expiration. Interestingly, it appears that today’s reversal has been added to similar bullish positioning as seen in the open interest at each of the strike prices described. Today’s activity could be the work of an investor who is merely adding to a position. Or, perhaps we are seeing traders hopping on the bull-bandwagon. – Motorola, Inc.
AXP – The global payments and travel company edged onto our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner after one bearish trader dug his claws into the August contract. AXP shares are down 1% to $22.75. It appears that the investor has sold 5,000 puts at the deep in-the-money July 25 strike price for 2.54 apiece in order to get long of 7,500 puts at the closer-to-the-money August 23 strike price for 2.03 each. The trader likely took profits on the sale of the near-term put options and proceeded to reestablish a position in protective put options at a lower strike with more time to expiration. – American Express Company
JOSB – The designer of men’s clothing and accessories has surrendered more than 6.5% to stand at $32.44 today. Traders expecting further declines initiated interesting trades involving put options. It appears that about 3,000 puts were sold short at the deep in-the-money July 35 strike price for a premium of 2.19 apiece and spread against the purchase of some 3,000 puts at the more bearish August 30 strike price for 1.39 per contract. The net credit received from the transaction amounts to 80 cents. Writing puts in the near-term July contract leaves traders exposed to…
Tags: AXP, ILMN, JOSB, MOT
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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.