Stocks on the move
Real-time Equity news
U.S. stock market report
1624 ET 09Oct2009
Call volume swells in leveraged bond ETF
Call options were again busy in the ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury on expectations bond prices will continue to fall and yields will rise in the next few weeks, said Andrew Wilkinson, market analyst at Interactive Brokers Group. U.S. Treasury debt prices sank after the Federal Reserve said it would not let the current era of easy money get out of hand, raising fears it was closer to hiking interest rates than previously thought. The comments on Thursday night by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke fueled the biggest bond market sell-off in more than a month. The leveraged TBT, designed to move twice the inverse of the iShares Barclays Capital 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund, rose 2.18 percent to $44.03. Its options volume was double the norm with 56,000 calls traded, more than twice the number of puts, according to Trade Alert. Wilkinson said investors favored the Oct calls up to the $49 strike to play an upward move in the exchange-traded fund.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1523 ET 09Oct2009
Plum Creek option trade suggests shares to stay in range
One investor in Plum Creek Timber Co Inc appeared to have sold a so-called $25 put/$35 call strangle involving the February 2010 contract, expecting its shares to remain hemmed between $37.05 and $22.95 during the next five months, said Interactive Brokers Group market analyst Andrew Wilkinson in a note. The strategist sold 15,000 contracts on each side of the transaction for a total premium of $2.05. The trade drove down the stock's option implied volatility -- a barometer of anxiety over the stock's future price direction -- to 36 percent from 40 percent on Thursday. There was also action at the same February expiration $30 series where 5,000 calls traded close to a $3.40 asking price while puts traded on identical volume at a mid-market premium of $2.63. This could have been another volatility play or a so-called reversal in which a Plum Creek bull sold puts to purchase calls, he said. Its shares rose 1.79 percent to $31.76 in late trade.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net.
1443 ET 09Oct2009
Option traders turn optimistic on Liberty Media
Traders are favoring bullish call options at media conglomerate Liberty Media Corp's largest division, Liberty Interactive. Option volume is double the average daily norm with 4,715 calls and 443 puts traded, according to Trade Alert. 'The bulls are tuning in to Liberty Media Interactive, betting on a quick surge from the beaten-down broadcaster,' said optionmonster analyst David Russell in comments on the website. The firm's computer model earlier showed the purchase of about 3,200 Oct $12.50 calls for 15- to 25-cent premiums against open interest of 1,380 contracts.
Shares of Liberty Media Interactive, a division that includes channel QVC, rose 1.21 percent to $11.95 in afternoon trade. The stock has more than doubled in the past three months as it erased last year's plunge. The call buyers may expect it to return to the $12.75 level that served as support last year before encountering significant resistance, he said.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1303 ET 09Oct2009
Investors circle Costco put options
Costco Wholesale Corp put options are attracting interest as some investors may be banking on a short-term pullback. Its shares, which jumped mid-week after the retailer posted better-than-expected earnings, fell 50 cents to $58.13 in afternoon trade. In the options patch, one trader sold 5,300 Nov $60 puts to collect $3.30 per contract, said Frederic Ruffy, option analyst at WhatsTrading.com. Separately, it appeared that Oct $57.50 puts were being bought-to-open, he said. The top trade was 3,643 contracts at the offer for a
60
cent premium on the International Securities Exchange and is possibly a non-customer or firm buyer, he said. A total of 17,250 contracts traded in the strike vs. 4,712 contracts outstanding with 85 percent of the volume hitting ask-side. Some investors might be bracing for a pullback in Costco before next Friday's October expiration, he said.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1215 ET 09Oct2009
Avanir shares rise as MS drug shows promise
Shares of Avanir Pharmaceuticals rose on Friday, after the company said a late-stage trial of its neurological drug Zenvia showed encouraging proof of concept data in relieving pain associated with multiple sclerosis.
Additional data showed that the 30/10 mg dose of the drug reduced MS-related pain in a small subset of patients with moderate-to-severe pain, the company said.
For details, see
Shares gained 3.5 percent to $2.38.
Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1137 ET 09Oct2009-Option bulls circle near
term Knight calls
Shares of electronic trading services provider Knight Capital Group Inc rose 1.8 percent to $22.58 and reached a 52-week high of $22.97. In the options market, traders are circling its front-month October call options, likely positioning for short-term gains.
Option volume is five times the average daily turnover with 7,077 calls and only 774 puts traded so far, according to Trade Alert. The October $22.50 call strike was active with 2,720 contracts traded earlier in the session. With 78 percent of that volume hitting ask-side and open interest of 1,774 lots, it looks like premium buyers are taking positions in anticipation of short-term strength in Knight, said WhatsTrading.com option strategist Frederic Ruffy.
The Oct $25 and Nov $25 calls traded ask-side as well. The stock's average implied volatility stood at 43 percent, up from about 41.5 percent late Thursday. Its quarterly results are due on Oct 21, after expiration, Ruffy added.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1058 ET 09Oct2009
Deutsche Bank bullish on semis, sector rises
Deutsche Bank analysts said in a research note they expect third quarter results of semiconductor companies to beat expectations and come in at the high end of guidance.
'We believe the ending of inventory burn, the beginning of restocking and improved end-demand to be the main drivers behind (third and fourth quarter) upside,' the note said.
DB recommended investors remain overweight on semis, with 'buy' ratings on Intel Corp, Integrated Device Technology Inc, Intersil Corp, LSI Corp and Sandisk Corp.
On Friday, the PHLX semiconductor index rose 1.6 percent.
Reuters Messaging: rodrigo.campos.reuters.com@reuters.net Keywords: MARKETS STOCKSNEWS
COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Real-time Equity news
U.S. stock market report
1624 ET 09Oct2009
Call volume swells in leveraged bond ETF
Call options were again busy in the ProShares UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury on expectations bond prices will continue to fall and yields will rise in the next few weeks, said Andrew Wilkinson, market analyst at Interactive Brokers Group. U.S. Treasury debt prices sank after the Federal Reserve said it would not let the current era of easy money get out of hand, raising fears it was closer to hiking interest rates than previously thought. The comments on Thursday night by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke fueled the biggest bond market sell-off in more than a month. The leveraged TBT, designed to move twice the inverse of the iShares Barclays Capital 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund, rose 2.18 percent to $44.03. Its options volume was double the norm with 56,000 calls traded, more than twice the number of puts, according to Trade Alert. Wilkinson said investors favored the Oct calls up to the $49 strike to play an upward move in the exchange-traded fund.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1523 ET 09Oct2009
Plum Creek option trade suggests shares to stay in range
One investor in Plum Creek Timber Co Inc appeared to have sold a so-called $25 put/$35 call strangle involving the February 2010 contract, expecting its shares to remain hemmed between $37.05 and $22.95 during the next five months, said Interactive Brokers Group market analyst Andrew Wilkinson in a note. The strategist sold 15,000 contracts on each side of the transaction for a total premium of $2.05. The trade drove down the stock's option implied volatility -- a barometer of anxiety over the stock's future price direction -- to 36 percent from 40 percent on Thursday. There was also action at the same February expiration $30 series where 5,000 calls traded close to a $3.40 asking price while puts traded on identical volume at a mid-market premium of $2.63. This could have been another volatility play or a so-called reversal in which a Plum Creek bull sold puts to purchase calls, he said. Its shares rose 1.79 percent to $31.76 in late trade.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net.
1443 ET 09Oct2009
Option traders turn optimistic on Liberty Media
Traders are favoring bullish call options at media conglomerate Liberty Media Corp's largest division, Liberty Interactive. Option volume is double the average daily norm with 4,715 calls and 443 puts traded, according to Trade Alert. 'The bulls are tuning in to Liberty Media Interactive, betting on a quick surge from the beaten-down broadcaster,' said optionmonster analyst David Russell in comments on the website. The firm's computer model earlier showed the purchase of about 3,200 Oct $12.50 calls for 15- to 25-cent premiums against open interest of 1,380 contracts.
Shares of Liberty Media Interactive, a division that includes channel QVC, rose 1.21 percent to $11.95 in afternoon trade. The stock has more than doubled in the past three months as it erased last year's plunge. The call buyers may expect it to return to the $12.75 level that served as support last year before encountering significant resistance, he said.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1303 ET 09Oct2009
Investors circle Costco put options
Costco Wholesale Corp put options are attracting interest as some investors may be banking on a short-term pullback. Its shares, which jumped mid-week after the retailer posted better-than-expected earnings, fell 50 cents to $58.13 in afternoon trade. In the options patch, one trader sold 5,300 Nov $60 puts to collect $3.30 per contract, said Frederic Ruffy, option analyst at WhatsTrading.com. Separately, it appeared that Oct $57.50 puts were being bought-to-open, he said. The top trade was 3,643 contracts at the offer for a
60
cent premium on the International Securities Exchange and is possibly a non-customer or firm buyer, he said. A total of 17,250 contracts traded in the strike vs. 4,712 contracts outstanding with 85 percent of the volume hitting ask-side. Some investors might be bracing for a pullback in Costco before next Friday's October expiration, he said.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1215 ET 09Oct2009
Avanir shares rise as MS drug shows promise
Shares of Avanir Pharmaceuticals rose on Friday, after the company said a late-stage trial of its neurological drug Zenvia showed encouraging proof of concept data in relieving pain associated with multiple sclerosis.
Additional data showed that the 30/10 mg dose of the drug reduced MS-related pain in a small subset of patients with moderate-to-severe pain, the company said.
For details, see
Shares gained 3.5 percent to $2.38.
Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1137 ET 09Oct2009-Option bulls circle near
term Knight calls
Shares of electronic trading services provider Knight Capital Group Inc rose 1.8 percent to $22.58 and reached a 52-week high of $22.97. In the options market, traders are circling its front-month October call options, likely positioning for short-term gains.
Option volume is five times the average daily turnover with 7,077 calls and only 774 puts traded so far, according to Trade Alert. The October $22.50 call strike was active with 2,720 contracts traded earlier in the session. With 78 percent of that volume hitting ask-side and open interest of 1,774 lots, it looks like premium buyers are taking positions in anticipation of short-term strength in Knight, said WhatsTrading.com option strategist Frederic Ruffy.
The Oct $25 and Nov $25 calls traded ask-side as well. The stock's average implied volatility stood at 43 percent, up from about 41.5 percent late Thursday. Its quarterly results are due on Oct 21, after expiration, Ruffy added.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1058 ET 09Oct2009
Deutsche Bank bullish on semis, sector rises
Deutsche Bank analysts said in a research note they expect third quarter results of semiconductor companies to beat expectations and come in at the high end of guidance.
'We believe the ending of inventory burn, the beginning of restocking and improved end-demand to be the main drivers behind (third and fourth quarter) upside,' the note said.
DB recommended investors remain overweight on semis, with 'buy' ratings on Intel Corp, Integrated Device Technology Inc, Intersil Corp, LSI Corp and Sandisk Corp.
On Friday, the PHLX semiconductor index rose 1.6 percent.
Reuters Messaging: rodrigo.campos.reuters.com@reuters.net Keywords: MARKETS STOCKSNEWS
COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
© 2009 AFX News
