Bullish Options In Play On Disney Ahead Of Earnings
by Option Review - May 7th, 2013 6:58 am
Today’s tickers: DIS, VMED & MS
DIS - Walt Disney Co. – Front month call options changing hands on Disney today suggest some traders are positioning for shares in the name to break well above recent all-time highs in the near future. The stock, up some 50% since this time last year, increased 0.45% near the open this morning to touch a record high of $65.09 after Iron Man 3, produced by Marvel Studios, a division of the Walt Disney Co., earned more than $175 million in its opening weekend in North America. Traders betting the stock pushes to fresh highs snapped up roughly 2,800 calls at the May $67.5 strike for an average premium of $0.48 apiece during the first half of the session. Call buyers make money at expiration if shares in Disney surge 4.4% over today’s high of $65.09 to top the average breakeven point at $67.98. Walt Disney Co. reports second-quarter earnings after the closing bell tomorrow.
VMED - Virgin Media, Inc. – Big prints in Virgin Media put options on Monday morning indicates at least one trader is bracing for shares in the name to potentially pull back off recent record highs. Shares in Virgin earlier today rallied 0.40% to touch a fresh all-time high of $50.31. The stock has more than doubled since this time last year and is up roughly 1600% since touching down at a 2008 financial-crisis low of $2.96. The May $50 strike put contracts traded approximately 5,000 times by midday in New York versus open interest of just 15 contracts. It looks like most of the volume was purchased at a premium of $0.55 each, thus positioning buyers to profit in the event that VMED’s shares slip 1.7% from today’s high of $50.31 to breach the effective breakeven point on the downside at $49.45 by expiration next week.
MS - Morgan Stanley – Shares in Morgan Stanley are on the rise…
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Big Print In SPY Calls Sees Fresh Highs On Horizon
by Option Review - January 17th, 2013 1:52 pm
Today’s tickers: SPY, INTC & VMED
SPY - SPDR S&P 500 ETF – A large trade in SPY call options, one that comprised more than 15% of the 630,000 options contracts that had changed hands on the ETF by 11:05 a.m. ET on Thursday morning, appear to be a massive bullish play that looks for the S&P 500 Index to rise to fresh five-year highs next week. Shares in the SPY, an ETF that tracks the performance of the S&P 500 Index, are moving higher for a third consecutive session, up 0.45% at $147.71, helped by a decline in initial jobless claims, strong housing starts and better-than-expected corporate earnings reports. The outright purchase of 100,000 calls at the Jan. 25 ’13 $150 strike at a premium of $0.165 per contract benefits from continued gains in the price of the underlying fund during the next six trading sessions. The position may be profitable at expiration next week should SPY shares tack on another 1.7% to top the effective breakeven price of $150.165, the highest level since 2007.
INTC - Intel Corp. – Options volume on chip maker, Intel Corp., is on pace to surpass its daily average of approximately 155,300 contracts this morning, with overall options volume on the stock topping 150,000 contracts as of 10:55 a.m. ET. Upside calls on Intel are active, with shares in the name up 1.2% on the session at $22.37, ahead of the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report set for release after the closing bell today. Call options set to expire at the end of the trading week are seeing the most action this morning, specifically the Jan. $23.5 strike contracts. Upwards of 48,000 calls have changed hands at the $23.5 striking price, versus previously existing open interest of 11,801 contracts. It looks like most of the contracts were purchased in the early going for an average premium of $0.12 apiece. Bullish calls may be profitable at expiration should Intel’s shares surge 5.6% post-earnings to exceed the average breakeven price of $23.62. Like-minded strategists snapped up 3,000 weekly calls out at the…
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Bearish Spread Preps For Fossil Pullback
by Option Review - May 7th, 2012 1:23 pm
Today’s tickers: FOSL, MS & VMED
FOSL - Fossil, Inc. – A sizable bearish spread initiated in watchmaker, Fossil, Inc., this morning suggests it may be the right time to pick up some downside protection on the stock ahead of the Company’s first-quarter earnings report due out Tuesday before the open. Shares in Fossil are currently down 1.15% at $127.71 as of 11:15 am in New York. The ratio put spread could be an outright bearish stance on the stock, or may be a hedge to protect the value of a long position in the underlying. Shares in Fossil are up big time year-to-date, having soared approximately 60.0% in the first four months of the year. Downside protection to lock in some of the stock’s gains may prove a prudent move should a disappointing report on Tuesday morning send shares sharply lower. It looks like one trader purchased 1,125 puts at the May $120 strike for a premium of $3.80 each and sold 2,250 puts at the lower May $105 strike at a premium of $0.90 apiece. Net premium paid to establish the spread amounts to $2.00 per contract, with profits – or downside protection – available in the event that shares drop 7.6% to breach the effective breakeven price of $118.00. Maximum potential profits of $13.00 accrue to the downside if the watchmaker’s shares plunge 17.8% to settle at $105.00 at expiration in less than two weeks. Fossil’s shares last traded below $105.00 back in February.
MS - Morgan Stanley – Selling of weekly call and put options on Morgan Stanley this morning suggests shares in the financial services firm may luff around the $16.00 level through expiration. Shares are currently up 1.0% on the day at $16.16 just before midday in New York. It’s been a…
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North American Palladium Draws Bullish Bets
by Option Review - July 14th, 2011 4:09 pm
Today’s tickers: PAL, VMED, ADLR & VIP
PAL - North American Palladium, Ltd. – Shares in the platinum and precious metals mining company rose as much as 6.4% at the start of the session to an intraday high of $4.98 before the broad market soured during Fed Chairman Bernanke’s second day of testimony on Capitol Hill. North American Palladium’s shares currently stand 3.85% lower on the day at $4.50 as of 12:30 pm ET. The rally in the price of the underlying this morning spurred bullish options activity on PAL. Investors positioning for shares in the Toronto, ON-based company to extend gains scooped up more than 2,000 calls at the August $5.0 strike for an average premium of $0.38 each. Call buyers at this strike profit in the event that shares surge 19.6% over the current price of $4.50 to surpass the average breakeven point on the upside at $5.38 at expiration next month. Similar, albeit lighter, bullish interest cropped up at the September $5.0 strike where some 710 calls were picked up for an average premium of $0.54 a-pop. Bulls frequented North American Palladium call options earlier in the week, as well. It looks like open interest at the August $4.0 and $5.0 strike call is largely made up of buyers who paid an average premium of $0.30 and $0.12 per contract for roughly 1,000 call options at each strike. Demand for PAL’s call options may also be elevated ahead of the company’s second-quarter earnings report on August 11. In addition, PAL was raised to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Sector Perform’ with a 12-month target share price of $6.00 at RBC Capital Markets this week. The overall reading of options implied volatility on the mining company rose 11.2% to 62.32% this afternoon.
VMED - Virgin Media, Inc. – Large prints in Virgin…
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Virgin Media bulls bank profits and build new positions
by Option Review - November 23rd, 2009 4:38 pm
Today’s tickers: VMED, EWZ, HAL, FMCN, VIX, SEED, GLD, CMCSA, SEED, LDK & USG
VMED – Virgin Media, Inc. – Virgin-bulls banked profits and established new positions on the telecommunications company this afternoon amid a 1% increase in shares to $16.54. One investor initiated the closing purchase of 10,000 put options that were originally sold short for an average premium of 68 cents apiece back on October 16, 2009. Today the trader closed out the position by buying the puts for just 15 cents each. Net profits on the trade amount to 53 cents per contract for a total of $530,000. The same investor is likely responsible for putting on a similar bullish strategy in the March 2010 contract. The March 15 strike had 10,000 puts sold short for one dollar per contract. The sale of the put options implies the trader expects shares of VMED to remain above $15.00 through expiration in March. Finally, optimism spread to the March 17.5 strike where 2,685 calls were purchased for an average premium of 1.45 apiece. Call-buyers amass profits if shares of VMED rally another 15% over the current price to breach the breakeven point at $18.95 by expiration day in March. Option implied volatility is currently 8.5% lower to 42.40%.
EWZ – iShares MSCI Brazil Index ETF – A bullish risk reversal on the EWZ in the January 2010 contract indicates investors are positioning for a rally in shares over the next couple of months. Shares of the fund are trading 1.5% higher to $76.28 this afternoon. Traders sold 5,500 puts at the January 77 strike for an average premium of 4.90 apiece in order to finance the purchase of 5,500 calls at the same strike for 3.35 each. The bullish reversal yields a net credit of 1.55 per contract. Investors retain the full 1.55 credit if shares of the Brazil Index ETF trade above $77.00 by expiration in January. Additional profits accumulate to the upside above the $77.00 breakeven price. The 1.55 credit also acts as a buffer against losses to investors in case shares fail to rise up to the strike price described. Investors short the put options stand ready to have shares of the underlying stock put to them at an effective price of $75.45 each if the put options land in-the-money by expiration.
HAL – Halliburton Co. – Near-term bearish option plays on the oil and gas…
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Profit-Taking on Illumina, Inc. Options Illuminated
by Option Review - October 20th, 2009 4:18 pm
Today’s tickers: ILMN, USB, CCJ, BSX, VMED, SPY, GME & QSFT
ILMN – Illumina Inc. – The biotechnology firm’s shares slipped 3% today to $42.48. Profit-taking by one investor pushed the ILMN ticker symbol onto our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner. It appears the trader originally sold 5,000 puts short at the November 35 strike for 95 cents apiece back on September 22, 2009. Today, the investor closed out the short position by buying the put options back for 25 cents each. Net profits enjoyed on the closing purchase amount to 70 cents per contract for a total of $350,000. Next, the investor reestablished a short put position by selling 5,000 puts at the November 40 strike for an average premium of 1.12 apiece. The full 1.12 premium may be fully pocketed by the trader if shares of ILMN remain higher than $40.00 through expiration.
USB – US Bancorp. – Options activity in the near-term November contract suggests at least one investor anticipates greater volatility in the price of USB shares through expiration. Shares of the financial holding company edged 1% lower this afternoon to $23.56. A long strangle play took place through the purchase of approximately 2,000 puts at the November 23 strike for an average premium of 65 cents each, and the purchase of 2,000 calls at the November 24 strike for about 73 cents apiece. The strangle cost the investor a net 1.38 per contract to implement. The transaction may prove to be profitable to the trader if shares of USB either shift above the upper breakeven point at $25.38, or if the stock moves beneath the lower breakeven price of $21.62, by expiration day. Volatility on USB rose 13% from an intraday low of 31% to a high of 35.5%.
CCJ – Cameco Corp. – The world’s second-largest producer of Uranium experienced a more than 5.5% rally in shares during the trading session to $31.31. Shares in a number of uranium companies rose after an Australian newspaper revealed BHP Billiton Ltd. declared force majeure on uranium and copper sales from its Olympic Dam mine. Force majeure is a contract provision that excuses a supplier from liability due to uncontrollable circumstances. In this case, a BHP mine in South Australia will be out of commission for at least a month due to mechanical difficulties. Investors expecting shares of CCJ to rally higher purchased near-term call options…
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Bulls and Bears Vie for Virgin
by Option Review - July 10th, 2009 4:15 pm
Today’s tickers: VMED, FSLR, BDK, SNDK
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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.