Zale Corp. Calls And Puts Active As Shares Extend Gains
by Option Review - September 4th, 2012 2:07 pm
Today’s tickers: ZLC, KFT & VRX
ZLC - Zale Corp. – Shares in jewelry retailer, Zale Corp., rallied as much as 6.7% this morning to hit a fresh 52-week and intraday high of $5.89. The stock rose sharply last week as well after the company reported its seventh consecutive quarterly increase in sales and a narrower-than-expected fourth-quarter loss. The stock has nearly doubled in value since the beginning of August, and is up 185% since trading down to a 52-week low of $2.06 back in October. Options traders appear to be selling put options in the front month and picking up October expiration calls. It looks like 320 puts were sold for a premium of $0.10 each at the Sep. $5.0 strike today versus open interest of 544 contracts. Around 400 of the existing positions in the $5.0 strike put appear to have been purchased on Friday for a premium of $0.17 apiece. Put sellers may be ditching recently purchased downside protection on the name as the shares continue to climb, or could be selling the contracts outright in the expectation that the puts expire worthless later this month. Meanwhile, the purchase of around 170 of the Oct. $5.0 strike calls for an average premium of $0.84 per contract today indicates one or more strategists are positioning for shares to continue higher during the next seven weeks. Call buyers stand ready to profit at expiration next month should Zale Corp.’s shares rally 5% over the current price to exceed the breakeven point at $5.84. The stock is currently off its highs of the session, trading up 0.72% at $5.56 as of 12:45 p.m. in New York.
KFT - Kraft Foods, Inc. – The food products company popped up on our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner this morning after a burst of trading activity in the September expiry calls. The trader or traders responsible for the bulk of the roughly 18,000 contracts in play…
Call Spreader Eyes Near-Term Turn-Around In Valeant
by Option Review - August 5th, 2011 3:15 pm
Today’s tickers: VRX, DISH, GE & S
VRX - Valeant Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – Shares in Canada’s largest drug maker have lost roughly one-third of their value in just over one week’s time, and it looks like one options player is prepared to see the stock recover somewhat in the next couple of weeks. Valeant’s shares currently trade 6.15% lower on the session at $38.34. The stock fell sharply on Thursday after the company reported lower-than-expected profits for the second quarter. Massive prints in August contract call options point to one player’s optimism for a speedy, albeit limited, rebound in the price of the underlying by expiration this month. It looks like the investor initiated a bull call spread, buying 25,000 now in-the-money calls at the August $38 strike for a premium of $1.75 each, and selling the same number of calls up at the August $43 strike at a premium of $0.45 apiece. The net cost of the trade amounts to $1.30 per contract, thus preparing the options strategist to profit should shares in Valeant increase 2.5% over the current price of $38.34 to surpass the effective breakeven point on the spread at $39.30 by expiration day. Maximum potential profits of $3.70 per contract pad the investor’s wallet if shares in the drug maker gain 12.2% to trade above $43.00 by expiration in two weeks. Options implied volatility on the pharmaceuticals company stands 25.6% higher this afternoon at 67.51% as of 1:40 pm on the East Coast.
DISH - DISH Network Corp. – The sharp pullback in shares of DISH Network today appears to have paid off handsomely for one strategist holding put options on the stock. It looks like the investor more than doubled his money in the past 48 hours by selling puts originally purchased on Wednesday. Shares in…