Bears Augment Put Positions On Consumer Discretionary ETF
by Option Review - September 2nd, 2011 2:41 pm
Today’s tickers: XLY, REGN, WM & CMC
XLY - Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund – Bears are hoarding put options on the Consumer Discretionary SPDR Fund following the release of dismal employment figures ahead of the open this morning. We noted growing interest in XLY puts on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, which suggested traders were hungry for varying degrees of protective or bearish positions on the sector. Shares in the XLY, an exchange-traded fund that tracks the performance of the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector of the S&P 500 Index, are down 1.9% in early-afternoon trade to stand at $36.42. The fund’s shares have fallen roughly 13.0% since hitting a 52-week high of $41.78 in the first full trading week of July. The sizable positions initiated in XLY puts earlier in the week, pale in comparison to the large bearish prints in the options today. It looks like one or more investors purchased some 34,750 puts at the October $30 strike for an average premium of $0.41 apiece. Put buyers profit if shares in the XLY plunge 18.75% from the current price of $36.42 to breach the average breakeven point on the downside at $29.59 by expiration day next month. Much of the 17,564 puts represented in open interest at the October $30 strike were purchased Tuesday for an average premium of $0.36 each. Traders long the put options may see the value of their positions appreciate if the price of the underlying fund continues to push lower in the next seven weeks to October expiration day.
REGN - Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – Demand for Regeneron calls jumped after the New York Times reported five more patients using Roche’s cancer drug Avastin to treat eye diseases were blinded. Shares in the biotechnology company Regeneron, which is seeking FDA approval…
The Pharma Initiative
by ilene - May 17th, 2010 1:19 pm
Pharmboy discusses Merck, Regeneron, and Vivus and maps out his plans for trading stock and options in these companies. - Ilene
The Pharma Initiative
Courtesy of Pharmboy
Hola fellow PSW subscribers! The week is finally over, and the fluctuations in the market is making many of us jittery. This write up has a few picks for all, one that is conservative, one a bit more risk, and a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants short.
First, let’s take a look at the pharma & biotech sector in comparison to the entire market. The Healthcare Spider (XLV) and now the Biotech Spider (XBI) are now under performing the market. The most logical explanation for this is the passage of the health care bill. If the reimbursement is less, pharma and its compadres will also collect less. Many of the companies have already factored in the hit to earnings, so it is known the ramifications going forward. Drugs will always be needed, as they are one of the scientific advances for extending life (which in turn makes medical care more expensive). The population is not getting any younger, so economies of scale will kick in and increase revenue, giving incremental increases in profit (if it is a well run company). So, on to the picks.
Figure 1. Comparison of XLI & XBI against major market indices.
Merck & Co. traces its origins to Friedrich Jacob Merck who purchased a drug store in Darmstadt, Germany in 1668; and Emanuel Merck who took over the store several generations later, in 1816. Emanuel and his successors gradually built up a chemical-pharmaceutical factory that produced — in addition to raw materials for pharmaceutical preparations — a multitude of other chemicals.
In 1891, George Merck established his roots in the United States and set up Merck & Co. in NY as the US arm of the family partnership, E. Merck (named for Emanuel Merck), which is now Merck KGaA. Merck & Co. was confiscated in 1917 during World War I and set up as an independent company in the United States. Between the wars and during World War II, the company was led by George W. Merck, who oversaw America’s germ-warfare research at Fort Detrick.
Figure 2. 2010 Merck stock price.
Merck has a broad therapeutic focus, with key products historically positioned within the cardiovascular (Zocor, Cozaar/Hyzaar), infectious diseases, endocrine, respiratory