Vistaprint Puts Active Ahead Of Q1 Earnings
by Option Review - October 23rd, 2013 4:32 pm
VPRT – Vistaprint N.V. – Options volume on the provider of customized printed products is up sharply on Wednesday, with more than 2,900 contracts traded so far today versus the stock’s average daily options volume of around 320 contracts. Much of the trading traffic in VPRT options appears to be the work of traders bracing for the price of the underlying to decline after the company’s first-quarter earnings report next week. The stock today is down roughly 3.5% at $54.05 as of 1:45 p.m. ET.
The most actively traded options contracts on Vistaprint today are the Nov $50 strike puts, with around 2,200 puts in play against open interest of 98 contracts. It looks like one trader purchased most of the volume at a premium of $1.15 each. The contracts may be profitable at expiration next month if shares in VPRT decline 9.6% from the current price of $54.05 to trade below the breakeven point at $48.85. The Nov $47.5 strike put options are also trading today, with around 270 contracts purchased at a premium of $0.70 apiece, establishing a breakeven level at $46.80.
Vistaprint is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings after the close of trading on Tuesday, October 29th.
Value of Large Temple-Inland Call Spread Pops Post-IP Takeover Attempt
by Option Review - June 7th, 2011 4:10 pm
Today’s tickers: TIN, CA, CTRP & VPRT
TIN - Temple-Inland, Inc. – Just under two weeks ago we made note of a sizable bullish transaction on Temple-Inland in which one strategist purchased a call spread in the January 2012 contract to position for a huge rally in shares of the corrugated packaging producer by expiration. As it turns out, the run-up in the price of the underlying stock arrived far sooner than predicted by the spread, with shares soaring 42.6% at the start of today’s session to an intraday- and multi-year high $29.97 following a hostile $3.31 billion takeover offer from International Paper Co. The bullish investor paid a net premium of $1.10 per contract back on May 25 – when shares in TIN were trading around $22.81 – for the 6,425-lot Jan. 2012 $25/$30 call spread. Call open interest at these strikes indicates the trader is still holding on to the position. To purchase the same Jan. 2012 $25/$30 call spread in the aftermath of the takeover bid, one would need to shell out a net premium of $3.70 per contract at present, which is $2.60 per contract more than the investor paid less than two weeks prior. Meanwhile, options traders taking to Temple-Inland today are focusing their attention on nearer-term contracts. Frenzied put selling is taking place at the June $29 strike where it looks like at least 6,500 puts sold for an average premium of $0.17 each. Traders short the puts keep the full amount of premium received on the transaction as long as shares in TIN exceed $29.00 through June expiration. Approximately 9,100 puts appear to have changed hands at that strike against zero open positions as of 11:45am in New York. Temple-Inland’s overall reading of options implied volatility is currently 32.8% lower to arrive at 23.76%.…
Hefty Bullish Plays Constructed on Transocean
by Option Review - July 29th, 2010 6:09 pm
Today’s tickers: RIG, AKAM, VPRT, FXI, GMCR, XLP & KR
RIG – Transocean Ltd. – Two massive bullish transactions utilizing nearly 110,000 call options on the provider of offshore contract drilling services for oil and gas wells indicates at least one big options player is taking a long-term optimistic stance on the stock. RIG’s shares inched up 0.50% this afternoon to trade at $47.00 as of 3:15 pm ET. The nearer-term of the two spreads looks to be a variation on the traditional call butterfly spread because volume at the lower strike price [wing 1] is the same as that used in the body of the butterfly. Typically, a butterfly spread is constructed using a 1X2X1 ratio. The longer-term spread employed in the February 2011 contract looks like a normal butterfly. In this transaction the investor enjoys maximum profits if RIG’s shares surge 38.3% to settle at $65.00 by February expiration day. The transaction involved the purchase of 15,000 calls at the February 2011 $50 strike [wing 1] for an average premium of $5.5250, the sale of 30,000 calls at the February 2011 $65 strike for an average premium of $1.475 [body], and the purchased of 15,000 calls at the higher February 2011 $80 strike for an average premium of $0.425 apiece. The net cost of this transaction amounts to $3.00 per contract. Transocean’s shares must rally 12.8% by February expiration in order for the investor to breakeven on the spread at a share price of $53.00. The investor may accumulate maximum available profits of $12.00 per contract if Transocean’s shares surge 38.3% to $65.00 by expiration day. The spread initiated in the November contract is similar in its bullishness, although differs with respect to the lopsided nature of the wings, time to expiration, and strike price selection. In this trade the investor the purchased 19,500 in-the-money calls at the November $45 strike for an average premium of $6.175, and sold the same number of calls at the higher November $55 strike for an average premium of $2.22 each. The third leg of the trade is half the size, that’s 9,750 calls purchased at the November $65 strike for an average premium of $0.725 apiece. The investor or investors responsible for these transactions are well positioned to benefit handsomely from bullish movement in the price of the underlying shares in the months to come.
AKAM – Akamai Technologies, Inc. –…