Bullish Player Goes for Second Helping of Kraft Call Options
by Option Review - May 20th, 2011 4:42 pm
Today’s tickers: KFT, GG, AEO & STEC
KFT - Kraft Foods, Inc. – Retail-therapy may be less attractive today following disappointing reports from industry giants such as The Gap, Inc., but options traders are still managing to enhance bullish spirits by turning to food instead. Kraft Foods popped up on our scanners today due to heavy trading traffic in June contract call options. It looks like one player is extending optimism on the stock, having purchased call options on Kraft five weeks prior, on April 15. Shares in Kraft Foods increased as much as 1.3% this afternoon to touch an intraday and new 52-week high of $35.44. It appears the investor purchased June $34 strike calls five weeks ago for an average premium of $0.40 per contract when shares in the name were hovering around $33.29. Kraft’s shares rallied 6.45% in the past five weeks to touch today’s new 52-week high, but the value of the June $34 strike calls has increased more than three-fold during the same time period. Some 7,000 call options at the June $34 strike were sold today for an average premium of $1.46 each. If we assume the call seller and buyer are one and the same, net profits on the position amount to $1.06 per contract. Next, it looks like a fresh batch of roughly 7,000 call options were purchased up at the higher June $36 strike for an average premium of $0.25 per contract. Profits on the fresh bullish stance kick in at expiration next month as long as Kraft’s shares rally another 2.3% to exceed $36.25 within the next six weeks. Other bullish players purchased some 1,400 in-the-money calls at the June $33 strike for an average premium of $2.44 each. Another strategist appears to be ditching a bearish position on Kraft Foods by unraveling a ratio put spread in the September contract. Options implied volatility on Kraft trimmed 3.5% to stand at 31.33% this afternoon.…
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Hartford Financial Services Group Call Options in High Demand
by Option Review - September 11th, 2010 7:30 am
Today’s tickers: HIG, EW, GENZ, AWK, STEC, DELL, HTZ, DBRN & OVTI
HIG – Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. – Call options on the insurance and financial services firm are flying off the shelves today with shares trading higher by as much as 2.95% to tie down an intraday high of $22.99. As of 2:20 pm ET, more than 14.1 calls have changed hands on HIG for each single put option in action on the stock thus far in the session. The sharp increase in demand for calls bumped up the insurer’s overall reading of options implied volatility 26.4% to today’s high of 56.57%. While some investors populating HIG are selling calls, the majority of calls traded were purchased by traders positioning for continue appreciation in the price of the underlying shares. Near-term optimists picked up roughly 7,500 calls at the September $23 strike for an average premium of $0.50 each. Call buyers at this strike make money if HIG’s shares rally above the average breakeven price of $23.50 by expiration day next Friday. Other bulls purchased some 4,600 calls at the September $24 strike for premium of $0.23 each. Another 2,800 calls were scooped up at the higher September $25 strike at an average premium of $0.16 a-pop. More than 10,800 calls changed hands at the September $26 strike versus previously existing open interest of just 3,300 lots. The vast majority of those calls, some 7,000 contracts, traded to the middle of the market at a premium of $0.12 apiece. Bullish sentiment on the insurance company spread to the October $24 strike where some 2,000 calls were coveted at an average premium of $0.76 each. Investors holding these contracts stand ready to accumulate profits if HIG’s shares jump 7.7% over today’s high of $22.99 to exceed the average breakeven price of $24.76 by October expiration. An additional 2,000 calls were picked up at the October $25 strike for premium of $0.70 a-pop. Traders long the calls make money if shares surge 11.8% to trade above $25.70 ahead of expiration day next month. Options traders exchanged more than 66,700 contracts on Hartford Financial Services Group by 2:30 pm ET.
EW – Edwards Life Sciences Corp. – The provider of products and technologies created to treat advanced cardiovascular disease popped up on our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner after…
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Appetite for Options on YUM! Brands, Inc. Grows Ahead of Earnings
by Option Review - July 12th, 2010 4:44 pm
Today’s tickers: YUM, INTC, CBRL, CASY, RMD, PG & STEC
YUM – YUM! Brands, Inc. – Traders are placing bullish and bearish bets on the operator of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell ahead of the firm’s second-quarter earnings report slated for release after the closing bell on Tuesday afternoon. YUM’s shares are up 0.97% to stand at $40.66 with 35 minutes remaining in the trading day. The overall reading of options implied volatility jumped 21.8% to 33.38% this afternoon as investors anxiously await the firm’s earnings for the second quarter. Some investors are preparing for a rally following earnings and ahead of July expiration. These optimistic individuals picked up at least 1,300 now in-the-money calls at the July $40 strike for an average premium of $1.13 apiece. Investors long the calls make money if YUM’s shares increase 1.15% to trade above the effective breakeven price of $41.13 by expiration on Friday. Bullish sentiment spread to the higher July $41 strike where 1,000 calls were purchased at an average premium of $0.57 a-pop. Traders long the higher-strike call options stand ready to accrue profits should YUM! Brands’ shares rally 2.2% to surpass the average breakeven price of $41.57 by expiration day. In contrast to the bullish behavior observed, pessimistic players purchased put options on the stock to position for disappointing second-quarter earnings from the firm. Bears bought approximately 4,900 puts at the July $40 strike for an average premium of $0.95 per contract. Put buyers make money if YUM’s shares decline 3.95% from the current price of $40.66 to breach the average breakeven point to the downside at $39.05 by July expiration.
INTC – Intel Corp. – Options investors are hard at work populating the chip maker with various trading strategies ahead of Intel’s second-quarter earnings report scheduled for release after the closing bell tomorrow. Thus far in the session more than 144,700 option contracts have changed hands on INTC with investors exchanging 2 call options on the stock for each single put option in play today. The semiconductor manufacturer’s shares are currently up 1.40% to stand at $20.53 as of 3:10 pm (ET). One options trader expecting Intel’s shares to remain range-bound through expiration in January 2012 opted to sell a strangle in the first half of the trading session. It looks like the investor sold 5,000 calls at the January 2012 $25 strike for a premium of $1.54…
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Weekly Wrap-Up – Buffett’s Daring Derivative Deal Does Well
by phil - February 28th, 2010 9:30 am
I was going to talk about Buffett's annual letter to investors.
Fortunately, I procrastinated and other people did some detailed reporting like Ravi Nagarajan, Andy Fry, Scott Patterson and Joe Del Bruno – who does a great job of pointing out that Berkshire's 4th quarter results were propped up by Buffett's $1.05Bn gains in derivatives betting (something Buffett himself once called "weapons of mass financial destruction" but, as we well know – if you can't beat them…), which accounted for 1/3 of Berkshire's $3.06Bn profits.
Buffett's biggest bet was selling a put against the S&P 500 back in March – a move I said at the time was BRILLIANT and Buffett himself now says about his own options trading: "We are delighted that we hold the derivatives contracts that we do. To date, we have significantly profited from the float they provide. We expect also to earn further investment income over the life of our contracts."
What did Buffett do? Exactly what we teach you to do here at PSW - he took advantage of an irrational move in the markets and SOLD INTO THE EXCITEMENT, getting a fat premium from some sucker that bet the S&P would not hold 666 5 years from now. Buffett effectively sold $5Bn worth of puts that expires worthless at S&P 700 between 2019 and 2027, putting $5Bn in his pocket and holding aside $1Bn in margin, which is how much he's already ahead on the bet. Like a good options trader, he has a plan and he's trading his plan, making sure his investment is on track and patiently letting time do it's work as it eats away at the put-holder's premium.
What about the risk? Well I can't speak for Buffett's stop-loss technique but we're talking about a company that has (had) $40Bn in cash using their excess margin to make a $5Bn bet that the S&P would not stay below 700 for 10 years. Buffett and I both tell people – NEVER buy a stock (or sell a put against one) that you are not willing to own for 10 years. The S&P was 5% below at the time and would have had to drop, perhaps, 20% more to cost him $1Bn so let's call the stop 550 on the S&P where Buffett risked 2.5% of his cash against a posible 400% gain on his $1Bn risk allocation over 10+ years. While it is true that if the…
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Retail Reversal Combination Grabs Attention on XRT
by Option Review - November 4th, 2009 4:11 pm
Today’s tickers: XRT, MGM, DE, GLD, UUP, NWL, HNZ, EWZ, UNH, OSTK & STEC
XRT – SPDR S&P Retail ETF – A three-legged transaction in the December contract on the retail exchange-traded fund reveals bearish sentiment by one investor. Shares of the XRT are trading nearly 1% higher today to $34.60. It looks like the trader sold call options in order to offset the cost of buying a put spread. The put spread involved the purchase of 5,000 puts at the December 33 strike for a premium of 1.07 apiece, marked against the sale off 5,000 puts at the lower December 30 strike for approximately 37 cents each. The sale of 5,000 calls at the higher December 36 strike knocked another 87 cents per contract off the total price of the bearish play. The investor more than offset the cost of buying the spread and thus receives a net credit of 17 cents per contract. The full credit is retained by the trader as long as shares of the XRT remain below $36.00 through expiration. Additional profits may accumulate if shares dip below $33.00, while maximum potential gains of 3.00 per contract require that shares trade down to $30.00.
MGM – MGM Mirage, Inc. – Shares of the casino resort operator slipped 2.5% lower to $9.40 today but one options optimist initiated a bullish play on the stock in the March 2010 contract. It appears the trader put on a ratio call spread by buying one in-the-money call option for every three out-of-the-money calls sold. The investor purchased 10,000 calls at the deep in-the-money March 7.0 strike for 3.20 apiece and simultaneously sold 30,000 calls at the higher March 12 strike for 1.05 each. The net cost of the transaction is reduced to just one nickel per contract. The investor probably does not expect shares to rally through $12.00 by expiration because he is short 20,000 calls at that strike price in the March contract. Shares of MGM last traded above $12.00 on October 14, 2009.
DE – Deere & Co. – A large bearish butterfly spread appeared in the March 2010 contract on the agricultural equipment maker. The transaction indicates one investor is positioning for significant declines in the price of DE shares by expiration. Shares are down 1% to $46.76 with just under 90 minutes remaining in the trading day. The investor purchased the upper wing of the…
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More Profits on Urban Outfitters
by Option Review - June 16th, 2009 5:08 pm
Today’s tickers: URBN, URE, IPG, WDC, JPM, STEC & ATHR
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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.