Contrarian Player Sees Visa Recovery Story Unfolding by Jan. 2012
by Option Review - September 13th, 2010 8:09 pm
Today’s tickers: V, EMC, MON, SAY, MJN, ADM, BBY, EDMC, EBAY & CHS
V – Visa, Inc. – Shares of the global payments company plunged 4.7% this afternoon to an intraday and new 52-week low of $64.90 following reports that said federal caps and pending litigation may limit Visa’s ability to increase prices. The price of the underlying was also helped lower by a downgrade to ‘market perform’ from ‘outperform’ at Sanford Bernstein, where analysts have a 12-month target price of $77.00 a share on the stock. The sharp decline in the price of the credit card issuer’s shares inspired near-term bearish options trading. More interesting, however, were the contrarian players seen initiating bullish positions in the longer-dated January 2012 contract. One optimistic strategist enacted a three-legged bullish combination play to position for a rebound in Visa’s shares. The investor appears to have sold roughly 2,500 puts at the January 2012 $50 strike for premium of $4.39 each, purchased about the same number of January 2012 $70 strike calls at an average premium of $8.37 a-pop, and sold approximately 2,500 calls at the higher January 2012 $90 strike for a premium of $2.50 apiece. The average net cost of the transaction reduces to $1.48 per contract. Thus, the contrarian player stands ready to make money should Visa’s shares jump 10.1% over today’s low of $64.90 to exceed the average breakeven price of $71.48 by expiration day. Maximum potential profits of $18.52 per contract are available to the investor should shares surge 38.7% to trade above $90.00 by January 2012 expiration. Visa’s shares last traded above $90.00 back on May 4, 2010. Options implied volatility on Visa, Inc. is up 10.8% at 33.75% with just over 20 minutes remaining ahead of the closing bell.
EMC – EMC Corp. – A large chunk of call options were purchased on EMC Corp. in early afternoon trading, however, it looks like the investor responsible for the transaction is taking a bearish stance on the stock rather than a bullish one. EMC’s shares rallied as much as 2.25% in the first half of the trading day to reach an intraday high of $20.43. The current 52-week high on the stock is $20.97, attained back on August 4, 2010. At first glance, the purchase of 20,000 calls at the January 2011 $21 strike at a premium of $1.00 each looks like a bullish bet by an…
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Satyam Computer Attracts Bullish Option Strategies
by Option Review - August 31st, 2009 5:22 pm
Today’s tickers: SAY, UNG, DVN, BJS, AXP, & IP
SAY - The global IT solutions provider popped up on our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner this afternoon after bullish call activity was observed in the near-term September contract. Shares of the firm have rallied higher by more than 16% during the session to stand at the current price of $6.37. Investors appear to have purchased approximately 4,000 calls at the September 7.5 strike for an average premium of 35 cents apiece. Shares of SAY would need to surge 23% higher in order for traders long the calls to begin to amass profits above the breakeven price of $7.85. Bullish sentiment spread to the October 7.5 strike where another 1,600 calls were scooped up for a premium of 51 cents. Option implied volatility on Satyam has exploded upwards from an intraday low of 74% to the current reading of 120%. We note that the 15,000 contracts exchanged on the stock today represent more than 54% of the total existing open interest on SAY of 27,735 lots. – Satyam Computer Service Limited –
UNG - Shares of the natural gas exchange-traded fund have slipped 4.4% lower today to reach a 5-year low of $10.64. Despite the present weakness in UNG, one investor was seen making far-term bullish bets on the fund by targeting the April 2010 contract. It appears that the trader established a bullish reversal play by shedding 3,000 puts at the April 10 strike for 1.85 apiece in order to purchase 3,000 calls at the higher April 11 strike for 1.82 each. The trader receives a net credit of 3 pennies per contract and has positioned himself to add to his gains if shares rally higher than $11.00 by expiration. The short put position indicates that the investor is happy to have shares put to him at an effective price of $8.15 in the event that the put options land in-the-money by expiration. Shares need only remain higher than $10.00 for this individual to retain the 3 cent credit indefinitely. – United States Natural Gas ETF –
DVN - The independent energy company appeared on our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner following contrarian options activity in the January 2011 contract. Shares of DVN may have slipped more than 2% lower to $61.15 today, but did not deter one option trader from initiating a bull call spread on the stock. Hoping…
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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.