Put Player Eyes Valassis Communications, Inc. Pullback
by Option Review - March 21st, 2011 4:28 pm
Today’s tickers: VCI, EXPR, XLE & LVS
VCI - Valassis Communications, Inc. – Shares in the media and marketing services company increased as much as 2.2% at the start of the trading day to hit an intraday high of $28.00, but relinquished much of the morning’s gains to stand just 0.20% higher on the session at $27.46 as of 12:50pm. One bearish options strategist appears to be positioning for Valassis Communications’ shares to tumble ahead of June expiration. It looks like the trader purchased a put spread, buying around 1,500 now in-the-money puts at the June $27.5 strike for a premium of $2.30 each, and selling the same number of puts at the lower June $22.5 strike at a premium of $0.50 apiece. Net premium paid to initiate the transaction amounts to $1.80 per contract and prepares the investor to make money should shares in VCI drop 6.4% from the current price of $27.46 to breach the effective breakeven point on the spread at $25.70 by expiration in June. Maximum potential profits of $3.20 per contract are available to the investor should Valassis’ shares plunge 18.1% to trade below $22.50 by June expiration.
EXPR - Express, Inc. – The specialty retailer of apparel and accessories popped up on our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner this morning after a number of calls changed hands in the front month. Options on Express, Inc. may be more active today ahead of the firm’s fourth-quarter earnings report, which is scheduled for release ahead of the opening bell on Tuesday. Shares in Express earlier rallied 1.6% to secure an intraday high of $17.38, but slipped this afternoon to stand 0.70% lower on the session at $16.98. Options traders exchanged more than 2,400 in-the-money calls…
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Three-Legged Bear Shops for Retail Sector ETF Options
by Option Review - January 7th, 2011 4:06 pm
Today’s tickers: XRT, APOL, VCI & MRVL
XRT - SPDR S&P Retail ETF – The retail sector may be poised for a pullback according to one options strategist who initiated a three-legged bearish combination spread using call and put options set to expire in March. Shares of the XRT, an exchange-traded fund designed to replicate the performance of the S&P Retail Select Industry Index, fell as much as 0.93% during the session thus far to touch an intraday low of $46.64. The three-legged bear sold out-of-the-money calls in order to partially offset the cost of buying a put spread. Legs of the spread include the sale of 7,500 calls at the March $51 strike for a premium of $0.40 each, purchase of 7,500 now in-the-money puts at the March $47 strike at a premium of $1.64 per contract, and the sale of 7,500 puts at the March $41 strike for premium of $0.42 apiece. The net cost of establishing the spread amounts to $0.82 per contract and positions the pessimistic player to profit should shares in the XRT decline another 1.00% from the current price to breach the breakeven point on the downside at $46.18 by March expiration. Maximum potential profits of $5.18 per contract are available to the investor in the event that XRT shares plummet 12.1% in the next couple of months to trade below $41.00 by expiration day. The outright bearish transaction contrasts with what appears to be a short straddle at the March $47 strike. It looks like the 3,500-lot short straddle provided the investor with gross premium of $3.87 per contract, which he keeps in full as long as shares settle at $47.00 at expiration day. The trader responsible for the short straddle could suffer devastating losses if the fund’s shares break out of the share price range dictated by the premium received, or buffer against losses through expiration. Losses start to accrue should shares rally above the upper breakeven point at $50.87, or if shares slip beneath the lower breakeven price of $43.13 before the contracts expire in March.…
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Amazon Options in High Demand Following eBook Pricing Concession
by phil - February 1st, 2010 4:24 pm
Today’s tickers: AMZN, DELL, FXI, AET, XOM, LPX, CSCO, VCI & ITMN
AMZN – Amazon.com, Inc. – E-tailer, Amazon.com, Inc., attracted two-way trading traffic in its options today after the firm gave in to publisher, Macmillan’s, demands to increase the price of digital books. Amazon.com’s concession to Macmillan is fueling investor concerns that the largest internet retailer is relinquishing its pricing advantage. Shares of the online shopping destination slumped more than 8.65% during the trading session to an intraday low of $114.38 – the largest decline in Amazon’s shares in more than one year. Investors inundated Amazon with options trades today, exchanging more than 226,300 contracts on the stock by 2:50 pm (EDT). Option volume generated thus far in the session represents more than 45% of the total 493,697 lots of existing open interest on AMZN. Strong demand for options on the stock as well as a rise in investor uncertainty boosted option implied volatility on Amazon roughly 8.3% higher to 41.44% in afternoon trading. Option traders expecting shares to rebound quickly purchased 2,200 call options at the February $115 strike for an average premium of $5.67 apiece. The $120.67 breakeven price on the contracts suggests call buyers expecting to amass profits in the next few weeks, anticipate a more than 5% increase off the intraday low, by expiration day in February. Call buying and selling in roughly equal proportions was observed at the February $120 strike and at the February $125 strike. Two-way trading traffic of put options is also apparent in the February contract. Contrarian players sold nearly 8,000 puts at the February $115 strike to take in an average premium of $3.58 per contract. Put sellers at this strike keep the full premium received if AMZN’s shares trade above $115.00 through expiration day. The most bearish moves were made at the March $105 strike where 1,100 puts were picked up for an average premium of $2.81 each.
DELL – Dell, Inc. – Bullish investors initiated call spreads on the just-in-time manufacturer of personal computers this afternoon with Dell’s share price up 2.5% to $13.22 on the day. Option traders purchased more than 10,000 calls at the August $14 strike for an average premium of $1.17 apiece, spread against the sale of roughly 10,000 calls at the higher August $18 strike for an average premium of $0.20 each. The average net cost of the bullish trade amounts to…
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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.
