Target Corp. Call Options Active As Shares Hit Record Highs
by Option Review - June 4th, 2013 8:07 pm
Today’s tickers: TGT, ONNN & CVS
TGT - Target Corp. – Weekly call buyers homed in on Target Corp. options during morning trading on Tuesday, a sign some traders are positioning for shares in the name to extend gains in the near term. The stock is trading up 1.7% at $72.23 just before midday in New York, after earlier rallying as much as 2.4% to a new all-time high of $72.77. Target’s shares have gained more than 25% since this time last year. The most active weekly contracts in play on TGT during the first half of the session are the Jun 07 ’13 $72.5 strike calls, with upwards of 1,800 contracts in play versus open interest of 640 contracts. It looks like most of the calls were purchased near the open for an average premium of $0.40 each, thus positioning buyers to profit at expiration in the event that shares settle above the average breakeven price of $72.90. Time and sales data indicates that the $72.5 weekly calls attracted buyers yesterday as well. On Monday around 600 of the $72.5 calls appear to have been purchased for an average premium of $0.11 apiece. Traders paying $0.11 per contract yesterday are seeing sizable overnight gains, with premium on the call options currently up four-fold at $0.48 each as of 12:10 p.m. ET.
ONNN - ON Semiconductor Corp. – Shares in ON Semiconductor rose 2.8% to a new 52-week high of $8.73 on Tuesday morning, extending the more than 30% upside move in the price of the underlying since this time last year. Options changing hands on ONNN in the early going today suggests at least one trader is positioning for shares to falter during the next four months. The buyer of roughly 900 puts at the Oct $7.0 strike for a premium of $0.25 apiece during the first 15 minutes of the session may be securing downside protection to hedge a position in the underlying shares, or may be initiating an outright bearish stance on ONNN through October expiration.…
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Put Spreader Prepares For Possible Market Rout
by Option Review - November 11th, 2011 2:01 pm
Today’s tickers: EFA, KMX & ONNN
EFA - iShares MSCI EAFE Index Fund – A massive put spread on the EFA, an exchange-traded fund made up of stock in multinational companies such as Nestle, Novartis and BP, to name a few, suggests one big options player is prepared should equities stumble over the next few months. Shares in the index developed as an equity benchmark for international stock performance rallied 2.5% to $51.80 this afternoon as stocks across the board look to end the week on a positive note. The put spread initiated on the fund may serve as a life preserver for its owner if (when) the next negative headline from Europe rocks markets once more. The investor purchased 55,000 puts at the Jan. 2012 $49 strike for a premium of $2.27 each, and sold the same number of puts at the lower Jan. 2012 $43 strike at a premium of $1.07 apiece. Net premium paid to initiate the spread amounts to $1.20 per contract, or a total of $6.6 million. The spread positions the trader to profit in the event that shares in the ETF fall 7.7% to breach the effective breakeven point on the downside at $47.80 by January expiration. Maximum potential profits of $4.80 per contract are available on the spread – that amounts to a cool $26.4 million – should shares in the EFA tumble 17.0% over the next few months to trade below $43.00 at expiration. Shares in the fund slumped to a 52-week low of $45.45 as recently as October 4, but have not traded below $43.00 since May 2009.
KMX - CarMax, Inc. – A flurry of put activity on CarMax, Inc. pushed the used car retailer onto our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner this morning. Shares in the Richmond, Virginia-based company rose 0.80% to $28.60 in the first half of the session. It looks like one investor binged on KMX puts, perhaps to take an outright bearish stance on the stock through the end of the year, or to provide varying degrees of downside protection on a long position in the underlying shares. The investor purchased roughly 200 puts at the Dec. $28 strike, the closest to-the-money available in the expiry, for a premium of $1.10 each. Buying continued at the Dec. $26 and $27 strikes, where the trader picked up more than 650 puts at each strike at average premiums of $0.56 and…
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Three-Legged Bearish Tactician Targets iShares Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index ETF
by Option Review - August 28th, 2010 5:04 pm
Today’s tickers: IYR, NSM, IGT, GFRE, LNC, BHI, ONNN & HPQ
IYR – iShares Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index ETF – A three-legged bearish options combination play on the IYR, an exchange-traded fund designed to provide investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index – an index created to measure the performance of the real estate sector of the U.S. equity market, indicates one big player is bracing for a pullback in shares of the ETF through the end of 2010. Shares of the fund went the way of the market this afternoon and rallied 1.05% to $50.71 with less than one hour remaining in the trading week. The investor sold roughly 10,000 calls at the December $55 strike at an average premium of $1.35 each, purchased about 10,000 puts at the December $50 strike for an average premium of $3.65 apiece, and shed 10,000 puts at the lower December $43 strike at an average premium of $1.43 a-pop. The net cost of the pessimistic play is reduced to $0.87 per contract. The transaction could be a hedge to protect the value of a large position in IYR shares. But, if the spread represents an outright bearish bet on the ETF, the investor is poised to profit should shares dip below the average breakeven price of $49.13 by December expiration. Maximum available profits in this scenario amount to $6.13 per contract if the fund’s shares plummet 15.2% from the current price to trade below $43.00 by expiration day.
NSM – National Semiconductor Corp. – Shares in semiconductor manufacturer, National Semiconductor Corp., earlier slipped 2.05% to touch a new 52-week low of $12.41, but the stock came roaring back to life in afternoon trading, rallying as much as 3.2% to an intraday high of $13.08. The significant shifts in the price of the underlying shares inspired investors to purchase both call and put options on the stock today. Options traders may also be gravitating toward NSM options ahead of the firm’s first-quarter earnings report scheduled for September 9, 2010. Investors heartened by the turn-around in shares purchased approximately 5,800 calls at the November $13 strike for an average premium of $0.85 apiece. Call buyers make money if National Semiconductor’s shares rally another 5.9% over today’s high of $13.08 to trade above the average breakeven price of $13.85 by expiration…
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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.