Sizable Options Trade Initiated On Men’s Wearhouse
by Option Review - August 16th, 2013 4:07 pm
Today’s tickers: MW & BBD
MW - Men’s Wearhouse, Inc. – A three-legged options trade initiated on men’s apparel retailer, Men’s Wearhouse, this morning prepares for shares in the name to potentially dip to the lowest level since April during the next few months. The stock is down 2.0% today to stand at $37.95 as of 11:30 a.m. ET. It looks like one trader sold call options to partially offset the cost of buying a bear put spread on the stock. The strategist appears to have purchased a 3,075-lot Nov $32/$38 put spread at a net premium of $2.25 each, and sold 3,075 Nov $40 calls at a premium of $1.90 apiece, reducing the net cost of the position to $0.35 per contract. The trader starts making money if shares in MW decline 0.80% from the current price of $37.95 to trade below the effective breakeven point on the downside at $37.65. Maximum potential profits of $5.65 per contract are available on the position should shares in Men’s Wearhouse drop more than 15% to $32.00 by November expiration. The options play may be an outright bearish bet on the stock, or could be a protective play to hedge a long position in the underlying shares. Men’s Wearhouse is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings after the closing bell on September 11th.
BBD - Banco Bradesco SA – Activity in Banco Bradesco options today suggests traders are positioning for heightened volatility in the price of the underlying in the near term. Overall options volume on BBD of around 1,550 contracts just before midday in New York is more than twice the stock’s average daily volume of 720 contracts, with much of the trading centered in the September expiry options. Shares in the name, down roughly 25% year to date, are currently off 1.3% on…
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Micron Calls Change Hands At A Clip Ahead Of Earnings After The Close
by Option Review - June 19th, 2013 8:45 pm
Options brief will resume June 21st, 2013.
Today’s tickers: MU, VNDA & MW
MU - Micron Technology, Inc. – Options traders appear to be snapping up out of the money call options on Micron Technology this morning ahead of the company’s third-quarter earnings report after the closing bell today. Shares in the name kicked off the trading session in rally mode, rising as much as 2.6% to a six-year high of $14.11 in the early going, but have since turned negative to stand 0.15% lower on the day at $13.73 as of 11:10 a.m. ET. Micron’s shares are up roughly 130% since this time last year. July expiry call options are seeing the most volume as of the time of this writing. Notable fresh interest is building in the Jul $16 and $17 strike calls, with more than 23,000 contracts in play at each. It looks like much of the volume in the $16 strike calls was purchased for an average premium of $0.44 apiece, while bulls paid an average premium of $0.26 each to get long the Jul $17 strike calls. Traders long the $16 strike calls stand ready to profit at expiration next month should shares in MU rally 16.5% over today’s high of $14.11 to top the average breakeven point at $16.44, while the $17 strike calls make money given a more than 22% move in the price of the underlying to $17.26 by July expiration. Overall options volume of 187,000 contracts on Micron is well above the stock’s average daily level of around 111,000 contracts less than two hours into the trading day. Heavy trading traffic in MU calls has pushed the call/put ratio to 4.0 as of 11:25 a.m. in New York.
VNDA - Vanda Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – Shares in Vanda Pharmaceuticals are getting slammed on Wednesday; down 24% at $8.31 as of 11:25 a.m. ET after…
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JPM Calls Active As Shares Hit Highest Since May
by Option Review - September 6th, 2012 4:18 pm
Today’s tickers: JPM, JNY & MW
JPM - JPMorgan Chase & Co. – Financial stocks are on a tear today after the ECB released details of its bond-buying plan amid a better-than-expected ADP report that showed private-sector employers added 201,000 jobs in August. Shares in JPMorgan earlier rallied to their highest level on an intraday basis since May 10th, climbing 4.7% to touch $38.87 in the first half of the session. Options traders positioning for shares in the name to extend gains in the near term pounced on the newly issued weekly contracts expiring one week from tomorrow. Call volume is on the rise at the Sep. 14 ’12 $38.5, $39 and $39.5 strikes. Roughly 1,400 calls changed hands at the $38.5 strike by midday, with much of the volume purchased for an average premium of $0.56 apiece. Traders long these in-the-money call options stand ready to profit next week should JPM’s shares exceed the average breakeven price of $39.06. Trading traffic spread to the Sep. 14 ’12 $39 strike where more than 3,100 contracts are in play. Overall options volume of 166,735 contracts as of 12:40 p.m. ET on JPMorgan is well above the stock’s average daily options volume of around 70,500 contracts. Calls are more active than puts, with the call-to-put ratio hovering around 1.6.
JNY - The Jones Group, Inc. – Apparel and accessories retailer, The Jones Group, Inc., is seeing heavier than usual options activity today, with shares in the name rallying 3.5% to an intraday- and new 52-week high of $13.38 in the first half of the trading day. The company was scheduled to present at the Goldman Sachs 2012 Global Retailing Conference ahead of the opening bell this morning. One options trader appears to be positioning for shares in the name to potentially rise to their highest level since April 2011 by October expiration. It looks like the strategist purchased a 657-lot Oct. $12/$15 call spread for a net…
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LinkedIn Weekly Calls Active As Shares Rally To Highest In Three Months
by Option Review - September 5th, 2012 2:36 pm
Today’s tickers: LNKD, MW & GFI
LNKD - LinkedIn Corp. – Shares in the professional social-networking site operator jumped 6% to a three-month high of $113.89 in the first half of the trading session after the Internet stock was raised to 'buy' from 'hold' with a share price target of $142.00 at Jefferies. Traders snapping up weekly calls on the stock this morning appear to be climbing aboard the bullish-bandwagon, positioning for additional near-term gains in the price of the underlying shares in the back half of this week. Volume in the weekly contracts is heaviest at the Sep. 07 '12 $115 strike where upwards of 3,100 calls changed hands against open interest of 543 positions. It looks like most of the $115 calls were purchased for an average premium of $0.47 apiece, thus preparing buyers to profit at expiration in the event LNKD shares exceed the average breakeven price of $115.47. Upside calls are also in play at the Sep. 07 '12 $120 strike, with roughly 460 of the contracts purchased this morning for an average premium of $0.15 each. Some bullish positions initiated yesterday and Friday are already seeing substantial paper profits given the big upside move in the shares today. Upside call buyers who picked up around 700 of the Sep. 07 '12 $110 strike call during the prior two trading sessions paid between $0.60 and $0.75 apiece for most of the contracts. Premium on the $110 weekly calls has increased five-fold since then from roughly $0.75 each on Tuesday to $4.10 per contract as of 12:15 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
MW - The Men’s Wearhouse, Inc. – Options on men’s clothing retailer, Men’s Wearhouse, are active ahead of the company’s second-quarter earnings report after the close this afternoon. Shares in the name are up 0.90% at $31.80 as of 12:35 p.m. ET, and at least one strategist is positioning for further gains in the share price in the near term. The…
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Bearish Players Eye Men’s Wearhouse Put Options Ahead of Earnings
by Option Review - June 8th, 2011 5:08 pm
Today’s tickers: MW, ABV, ANR & ODP
MW - The Men’s Wearhouse, Inc. – Investors are posturing in Men’s Wearhouse put options this afternoon ahead of the retailer’s first-quarter earnings report after the final bell. Shares in the Houston, TX-based company are well off their lows of the session, but still trade 0.65% lower today at $30.61 as of 1:35pm on the East Coast. One options strategist donned a debit put spread in the June contract to position for the price of the underlying shares to fall. The trader picked up 1,500 puts at the June $30 strike for a premium of $1.25 each, and sold the same number of puts at the lower June $28 strike at a premium of $0.47 a-pop. Net premium paid to initiate the spread amounts to $0.78 per contract. The investor profits if shares in Men’s Wearhouse drop 4.5% post-earnings to breach the effective breakeven price of $29.22. Maximum potential profits of $1.22 per contract pad the investor’s wallet in the event that MW’s shares plunge 8.5% in the next week and a half to trade below $28.00 at June expiration. Options implied volatility on the clothing company currently stands 7.7% higher on the session at 50.64%. Investors have exchanged a total of 6,295 call and put options on the stock as of 1:40pm, which is substantial relative to MW’s total open interest of 11,578 contracts. Pre earnings report options players are exchanging more than 3.5 put options on the stock for each single call option on the retailer this afternoon.
ABV - AmBev – Shares in AmBev, a subsidiary of global brewing company Anheuser-Busch InBev, rose nearly 1.1% at the start of the trading session to $31.94. Activity in AmBev call options this morning suggests one strategist expects shares in the biggest brewery in…
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Put spreader portends near-term erosion in Energy fund’s shares
by Option Review - September 10th, 2010 8:29 am
Today’s tickers: XLE, CROX, COCO, PCX, EBAY, NTAP, MW, ARG & AXL
XLE – Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF – A massive put spread purchased on the XLE, an exchange-traded fund designed to correspond to the performance of the Energy Select Sector of the S&P 500 Index, points perhaps to one investor’s expectation that the price of the fund’s shares are set to decline ahead of September expiration day. Shares of the fund are currently up 0.40% at $54.06 as of 3:45 pm ET. It looks like the pessimistic player picked up approximately 40,000 puts at the September $53 strike for an average premium of $0.21 each, and sold about the same number of puts at the lower September $52 strike at an average premium of $0.44 a-pop. Net premium paid to purchase the spread amounts to $0.23 per contract. The investor responsible for the transaction stands ready to make money if shares of the XLE fall 2.4% from the current price of $54.06 to breach the effective breakeven point at $52.77 by expiration next Friday. Maximum potential profits of $0.77 per contract – for a total of $3,080 million – are available to the trader if the XLE’s shares drop 3.8% to slip beneath $52.00 by expiration day.
CROX – Crocs, Inc. – The footwear firm’s shares plunged 15.5% in afternoon trading to touch down at an intraday low of $11.68. Sharp share price erosion spurred put buying by options traders expecting the stock to continue lower ahead of October expiration. Investors purchased approximately 5,100 now in-the-money puts at the October $12 strike for an average premium of $0.85 each. Put players make money if shares fall another 4.5% from today’s low of $11.68 to breach the average breakeven point at $11.15 by expiration day next month. Options implied volatility on the shoe maker shot up 26.7% to 66.39% as of 3:40 pm ET.
COCO – Corinthian Colleges, Inc. – Shares in for-profit university, Corinthian Colleges, Inc., shot up 14.5% to an intraday high of $5.61 this morning on speculation the company may be acquired. Options traders were quick to initiate bullish stances on the stock in case the rumors end up having some truth to them. COCO’s shares cooled slightly in afternoon trading and are currently up 9.8% on the day to stand at $5.38 as of 2:50 pm ET. Speculators hoping to see shares continue higher picked…
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Contrarian Options Player Sheds Put Options on Lloyd’s Banking Group PLC
by Option Review - May 25th, 2010 4:50 pm
Today’s tickers: LYG, XLV, MSFT, XLF, F, AZN, LYV, AZO, MW & XLNX
LYG – Lloyd’s Banking Group PLC – One optimistic options strategist initiated a short put stance on Lloyd’s Banking Group PLC today, suggesting perhaps that shares of the underlying stock are not likely to collapse much further ahead of October expiration. Lloyd’s Banking Group shares fell as much as 8.9% to an intraday low of $2.88 in morning trading, but recovered slightly during the session to stand 5.05% off yesterday’s close at $3.16 a share as of 2:45 pm (ET). Across the pond, Lloyd’s Banking Group shares declined the most in London trading, falling 8.9% to 50.52 pence, as concerns over the creditworthiness of European financial institutions continues to weigh heavily on U.K. banking stocks. But, back to U.S. equity options on LYG, the contrarian investor opted to sell short 4,000 puts at the October $2.5 strike in order to pocket premium of $0.30 per contract. The trader keeps the full amount of premium received on the sale as long as LYG’s share price exceeds $2.50 through expiration day in October. The short sale of put options in this case implies the investor is happy to have 400,000 shares of the underlying stock put to him at an effective price of $2.20 each should the put contracts land in-the-money at expiration.
XLV – Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund – A large chunk of out-of-the-money put options were purchased on the Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund today as part of a delta neutral trade enacted by one cautiously optimistic options player. Shares of the XLV, an exchange-traded fund designed to produce investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the Health Care Select Sector of the S&P 500 Index, declined 0.65% to stand at $28.54 as of 3:35 pm (ET). It looks like the investor purchased up to 22,500 put options with a .31 delta at the September $26 strike for a premium of $1.08 per contract. The trader picked up the puts in conjunction with the purchase of stock at $28.25 a-pop. The delta neutral transaction is meant to offset potential losses faced by the investor should shares of the XLV continue lower because of the larger proportion of put options held by the trader. The purchase of shares of the underlying stock in combination with the put options indicates the investor…
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Looming Lululemon Earnings Lifts Implied Volatility – Puts in Demand
by Option Review - December 9th, 2009 4:06 pm
Today’s tickers: LULU, XLE, OIH, JPM, IOC, CYB, AMSC, MW, SVU & JTX
LULU – Lululemon Athletica, Inc. – Investors are hoarding put options on athletic apparel maker, Lululemon Athletica, ahead of the firm’s third-quarter earnings report scheduled for release after market close. LULU’s shares rallied as much as 3.8% to an intraday high of $27.84. The stock is currently up 2.75% to $27.56 with 45 minutes remaining in the trading session. Some analysts expect the Canada-based company will record earnings of 19 cents per share on revenue of $111 million. Option traders hedged against an earnings disappointment by purchasing puts. Approximately 6,800 put options were coveted by investors at the January 25 strike for an average premium of 1.23 apiece. Put-buyers are positioned to profit if shares fall through the breakeven price of $23.77 by January’s expiration day. Mounting investor anticipation for third-quarter earnings and the increase in demand for option contracts on the stock boosted option implied volatility throughout the session. Volatility rose 10.85% from an opening reading of 59.93% to an intraday high of 67.52%.
XLE – Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF – Shares of the exchange-traded fund comprised of companies in the oil, gas, and energy equipment industries, fell 1% during the trading day to $54.30. A massive put spread by one investor indicates shares of the XLE may decline further by the time the quarterly December contract options expire on December 31st, 2009. It appears the bearish trader purchased 74,800 puts at the December 53 strike for 95 cents apiece, spread against the sale of 74,800 puts at the lower December 48 strike for 13 pennies each. The net cost of the pessimistic play amounts to 82 cents per contract. The investor likely holds a long position in the underlying stock. The puts serve to protect the value of the stock position in case shares continue to decline. Downside protection kicks in if shares of the XLE decline beneath the breakeven point at $52.18 by expiration on the final day of 2009.
OIH – Oil Service HOLDRs Trust – Shares of the OIH exchange-traded fund rallied 1.25% to $112.69 today. We observed bearish options activity on the fund despite the bullish movement in the price of the underlying. A put spread enacted in the January 2010 contract suggests some investors feel the need for downside protection through expiration next year. It looks like 1,500 puts…
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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.