Stocks on the move , Real-Time Equity news
U.S. stock market report
1821 ET-10March2009-Player sells straddle in China ETF
analyst
One options investor sold volatility in the form of a straddle trade tied to the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 index fund. The shares of the exchange-traded fund rose 8.24 percent to $25.61. The straddle combination in which an equal amount of calls and puts was sold was in the May contract at the $26 strike. In this case, the player expects the future share price of the ETF to remain around the $26 mark by May expiration and would benefit further if implied options volatility declined, said Andrew Wilkinson, market analyst at Interactive Brokers Group. The fund's option implied volatility had come off from Monday's value of 66 percent to about 60 percent on Tuesday. At the May $26 strike price, 3,000 calls were sold for $2.12 apiece while 3,000 puts at the same strike were shed for a premium of $3. The gross premium gained was $5.12. The premium would start to erode if shares move toward either break even point at $31.12 on the upside and at $20.88 on the downside, he said.
1744 ET-10March2009
Option players in Disney turn optimistic
Shares of entertainment company Walt Disney Co advanced 6.54 percent to $16.61. The bullish sentiment spilled over into the options market where early buyers, looking for more upside, paid 35 to 45 cents a contract for nearly 3,000 April $17.50 calls, said Trade Alert president Henry Schwartz. Those calls would begin to amass profits if Disney shares can rally 10 percent to the break even price of $17.92, said Andrew Wilkinson, market analyst at Interactive Brokers Group in a note to clients. He noted that traders also bought about 9,000 in-the-money calls at the March $15 strike price for an average price of $1.29 apiece, Disney shareholders rejected a proposal that would have given them say on executive pay packages. 'We doubt that today's vote by major shareholders on the subject of executive pay is driving option activity,' Wilkinson added.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1720 ET-10March2009
Players target GE calls, banking on more gains
Shares of U.S. conglomerate General Electric Co jumped 19.7 percent to $8.87.
'A deep, deep breath of fresh air was inhaled by GE's investors today,' said Andrew Wilkinson, senior market analyst at Interactive Brokers Group, in a note. In the options market, GE's implied volatility fell by around 25 percent to 101 percent. Players focused on calls in search of an ongoing rebound in the stock price and bought around 2,500 June calls at the $16 strike where premiums reached 17 cents per contract. Most actively traded, however, were calls at the March $9 strike where investors added to 93,603 lots of open interest with the purchase of 43,000 calls at a 47-cent premium. The surrounding $7.50 and $10 strikes were also heavily traded, he said. On the put side, the June $2.50 strike had volume of around 10,000 lots while the premium slipped.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1658 ET
10March2009 Players seek upside Waters Corp calls
Shares of life science tools maker Waters Corp rose 5.61 percent to $33.53 after hitting a new 52-week low of $31.28 on Monday. At least one optimistic option player appears to be betting on significant share gains and paid 50 cents for calls giving the privilege to buy Waters shares at $40 apiece by April expiration. The investor earlier bought just over 4,000 contracts in the call strike, volume that far exceeded the stock's average daily option volume, said Pete Najarian, a founder of optionmonster.com in comments on the Website. The last time the stock was more than $40 was in early February, he said. In all, 6,874 calls and 395 puts traded in Waters, 12 times the normal combined volume, according to Trade Alert.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1625 ET 10March2009
Wall St abstains from booze, sweets in big rally
One characteristic of Tuesday's U.S. stock market advance was that investors turned so bullish that they sold off some of the shares that offered them solace as the market skidded off to 12-year lows.
Even a maker of something that is typically a staple in a recession -- booze -- was not spared. Shares of Brown-Forman Corp tumbled 9.9 percent to $37 on the New York Stock Exchange. Chocolate-maker Hershey Co ended down 0.5 percent at $30.75.
The two stocks were among the 11 S&P 500 constituents to finish down in an otherwise strong market. The benchmark S&P 500 index jumped more than 6 percent.
Reuters Messaging: ellis.mnyandu.reuters.com@reuters.net
1514 ET 10March2009-S&P 500 may track for 780-800 resistance
analyst
A sustained advance following Tuesday U.S. stock market run-up could see the benchmark S&P 500 facing near-term resistance around the 780-800 level, said Andre Weisbrod, president and chief executive officer of STAAR Financial Advisors in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Weisbrod's year-end target for the S&P is 900.
In afternoon trade, the index was up 36.29 points, or 5.36 percent, at 712.82.
Reuters Messaging: ellis.mnyandu.reuters.com@reuters.net
1447 ET 10March2009
Markets soar, lifted by banks and Frank's comments
Major U.S. indexes soared on Tuesday, after Citigroup said it was profitable in the first two months of 2009, and Rep. Barney Frank, the chairman of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, said he expects the reinstatement of a rule that hinders bets a stock will fall.
For details, see
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 4.1 percent to 6,812.60 while the S&P 500 gained 4.6 percent to 707.94 and the Nasdaq shot up 5.3 percent to 1,336.18.
Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1426 ET 10March2009-AT&T sets 2009 capex budget of $17 bln
$18 bln
AT&T Inc on Tuesday said it plans to invest $17 billion to $18 billion on capital expenditures in 2009, with about two-thirds of that to be used to improve its wireless and wired broadband networks. It promised that it would add almost 3,000 jobs in growth areas this year while cutting jobs in its traditional wired phone unit.
For details on the company's plan, see
Shares of AT&T, a Dow component, surged 5.1 percent to $22.83.
Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1414 ET 10March2009
Low demand for autos hurt Feb retail sales: poll
Falling demand for new cars likely drove U.S. retail sales into the red in February, following a surprising increase in January sales, a Reuters poll of 76 economists said on Tuesday.
February sales are expected to fall 0.5 percent, compared with a rise of 1 percent in January. When auto sales are excluded, February sales dipped 0.2 percent, compared with a rise of 0.9 percent in January.
For details, see
Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.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.
U.S. stock market report
1821 ET-10March2009-Player sells straddle in China ETF
analyst
One options investor sold volatility in the form of a straddle trade tied to the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 index fund. The shares of the exchange-traded fund rose 8.24 percent to $25.61. The straddle combination in which an equal amount of calls and puts was sold was in the May contract at the $26 strike. In this case, the player expects the future share price of the ETF to remain around the $26 mark by May expiration and would benefit further if implied options volatility declined, said Andrew Wilkinson, market analyst at Interactive Brokers Group. The fund's option implied volatility had come off from Monday's value of 66 percent to about 60 percent on Tuesday. At the May $26 strike price, 3,000 calls were sold for $2.12 apiece while 3,000 puts at the same strike were shed for a premium of $3. The gross premium gained was $5.12. The premium would start to erode if shares move toward either break even point at $31.12 on the upside and at $20.88 on the downside, he said.
1744 ET-10March2009
Option players in Disney turn optimistic
Shares of entertainment company Walt Disney Co advanced 6.54 percent to $16.61. The bullish sentiment spilled over into the options market where early buyers, looking for more upside, paid 35 to 45 cents a contract for nearly 3,000 April $17.50 calls, said Trade Alert president Henry Schwartz. Those calls would begin to amass profits if Disney shares can rally 10 percent to the break even price of $17.92, said Andrew Wilkinson, market analyst at Interactive Brokers Group in a note to clients. He noted that traders also bought about 9,000 in-the-money calls at the March $15 strike price for an average price of $1.29 apiece, Disney shareholders rejected a proposal that would have given them say on executive pay packages. 'We doubt that today's vote by major shareholders on the subject of executive pay is driving option activity,' Wilkinson added.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1720 ET-10March2009
Players target GE calls, banking on more gains
Shares of U.S. conglomerate General Electric Co jumped 19.7 percent to $8.87.
'A deep, deep breath of fresh air was inhaled by GE's investors today,' said Andrew Wilkinson, senior market analyst at Interactive Brokers Group, in a note. In the options market, GE's implied volatility fell by around 25 percent to 101 percent. Players focused on calls in search of an ongoing rebound in the stock price and bought around 2,500 June calls at the $16 strike where premiums reached 17 cents per contract. Most actively traded, however, were calls at the March $9 strike where investors added to 93,603 lots of open interest with the purchase of 43,000 calls at a 47-cent premium. The surrounding $7.50 and $10 strikes were also heavily traded, he said. On the put side, the June $2.50 strike had volume of around 10,000 lots while the premium slipped.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1658 ET
10March2009 Players seek upside Waters Corp calls
Shares of life science tools maker Waters Corp rose 5.61 percent to $33.53 after hitting a new 52-week low of $31.28 on Monday. At least one optimistic option player appears to be betting on significant share gains and paid 50 cents for calls giving the privilege to buy Waters shares at $40 apiece by April expiration. The investor earlier bought just over 4,000 contracts in the call strike, volume that far exceeded the stock's average daily option volume, said Pete Najarian, a founder of optionmonster.com in comments on the Website. The last time the stock was more than $40 was in early February, he said. In all, 6,874 calls and 395 puts traded in Waters, 12 times the normal combined volume, according to Trade Alert.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1625 ET 10March2009
Wall St abstains from booze, sweets in big rally
One characteristic of Tuesday's U.S. stock market advance was that investors turned so bullish that they sold off some of the shares that offered them solace as the market skidded off to 12-year lows.
Even a maker of something that is typically a staple in a recession -- booze -- was not spared. Shares of Brown-Forman Corp tumbled 9.9 percent to $37 on the New York Stock Exchange. Chocolate-maker Hershey Co ended down 0.5 percent at $30.75.
The two stocks were among the 11 S&P 500 constituents to finish down in an otherwise strong market. The benchmark S&P 500 index jumped more than 6 percent.
Reuters Messaging: ellis.mnyandu.reuters.com@reuters.net
1514 ET 10March2009-S&P 500 may track for 780-800 resistance
analyst
A sustained advance following Tuesday U.S. stock market run-up could see the benchmark S&P 500 facing near-term resistance around the 780-800 level, said Andre Weisbrod, president and chief executive officer of STAAR Financial Advisors in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Weisbrod's year-end target for the S&P is 900.
In afternoon trade, the index was up 36.29 points, or 5.36 percent, at 712.82.
Reuters Messaging: ellis.mnyandu.reuters.com@reuters.net
1447 ET 10March2009
Markets soar, lifted by banks and Frank's comments
Major U.S. indexes soared on Tuesday, after Citigroup said it was profitable in the first two months of 2009, and Rep. Barney Frank, the chairman of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, said he expects the reinstatement of a rule that hinders bets a stock will fall.
For details, see
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 4.1 percent to 6,812.60 while the S&P 500 gained 4.6 percent to 707.94 and the Nasdaq shot up 5.3 percent to 1,336.18.
Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1426 ET 10March2009-AT&T sets 2009 capex budget of $17 bln
$18 bln
AT&T Inc on Tuesday said it plans to invest $17 billion to $18 billion on capital expenditures in 2009, with about two-thirds of that to be used to improve its wireless and wired broadband networks. It promised that it would add almost 3,000 jobs in growth areas this year while cutting jobs in its traditional wired phone unit.
For details on the company's plan, see
Shares of AT&T, a Dow component, surged 5.1 percent to $22.83.
Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1414 ET 10March2009
Low demand for autos hurt Feb retail sales: poll
Falling demand for new cars likely drove U.S. retail sales into the red in February, following a surprising increase in January sales, a Reuters poll of 76 economists said on Tuesday.
February sales are expected to fall 0.5 percent, compared with a rise of 1 percent in January. When auto sales are excluded, February sales dipped 0.2 percent, compared with a rise of 0.9 percent in January.
For details, see
Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.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.