Stocks on the move
Real-time Equity news
U.S. stock market report
1700 ET 29Dec2009-US STOCKS
Market slips in low volume trade; data mixed
U.S. stocks edged lower in a low-volume session on Tuesday, breaking a six-day string of gains as investors found little reason to push stocks higher as the year's end approached.
Data showing a rise in consumer confidence was offset by a housing report pointing to more bumps in the road.
The day's decline followed six days of gains. But the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index is still up 25 percent for the year.
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Reuters Messaging rm://caroline.valetkevitch.reuters.com@reuters.net
1646 ET 29Dec2009
Traders pick up Ford Motor put options
About 52,000 put options changed hands in Ford Motor Co, more than twice the number of its calls, Trade Alert data show. Ford shares slipped 9 cents to $10.11. Most of the action was concentrated in the February contract, where one investor bought 17,000 $7 put strikes at a 7-cent premium and 12,000 $8 puts at 12 cents apiece, said Frederic Ruffy, options strategist at WhatsTrading.com. The strikes had a combined turnover of 34,034 contracts, according to Reuters data.
The action stands in contrast to Monday, when shares hit a 52-week high of $10.37 and settled higher at $10.20. On that day, 62,000 calls and 19,000 puts traded. But open interest data suggest that less than 7,000 of Monday's calls were opening trades compared to an additional 8,652 put positions, Ruffy said. The put activity comes ahead of monthly auto sales due next Tuesday and the automaker's quarterly results expected in late January or early February.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1512 ET 29Dec2009
Cephalon upside call options stir interest
Option traders exchanged about 11,000 call contracts in drugmaker Cephalon Inc, more than three times the average daily turnover compared to 1,129 puts by late afternoon, according to Trade Alert. The most active contracts were the May $75 call strikes, the January $65 and $70 call strikes as shares rose 1.9 percent to $62.26.
An investor paid $1.25 in premium for the May $75 calls, which traded 5,000 times vs. 105 contracts of open interest, said WhatsTrading.com option strategist Frederic Ruffy. A total of 5,460 contracts now traded in that strike price, according to Reuters data.
Open Interest across the entire option board was heavily skewed toward the upside with 116,000 calls vs. 55,000 puts, according to Trade Alert. The company said last week that U.S. health regulators delayed a decision on whether to approve Cephalon's sleep disorder drug Nuvigil to treat sleepiness caused by jet lag by three months. For details, see
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1445 ET 29Dec2009
Traders sell U.S. Steel puts as shares dip
Investors may be using a decline in U.S. Steel Corp as a chance to sell put options on the company, possibly to book some profits. U.S. Steel shares fell 2.62 percent to $55.01 late in the session. Andrew Wilkinson, senior market analyst at Interactive Brokers Group, said at least 1,000 put options were earlier written at the $55 strike in the February contract. By taking in an average $3.80 premium today implies the investor is willing to pay an effective $51.20 for U.S. Steel shares, which might not happen if commodity prices continue the New Year on a firm footing, he said.
The investor could also be banking nice gains using options. On Monday, the stock hit a high of $58.19, while those puts traded 1,500 times at around a $3.40 premium, he said.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1414 ET 29Dec2009
Bulls line up for Great Atlantic calls
Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co Inc shares rose 5 cents to $11.84 late in the session. In the options market, buyers opened new positions in the January $12.50 calls with 2,736 contracts traded earlier vs. 2,088 in open interest, said WhatsTrading.com option strategist Frederic Ruffy. ISEE data on the International Securities Exchange confirm that customers are buying-to-open. It might be a play on earnings, which are expected around Jan. 12, he said. The stock has spent the past two months consolidating above $10, and now traders are looking for the heavily shorted supermarket chain to push toward $13, said optionMonster analyst David Russell in comments on the Web site. The firm's tracking program also detected heavy buying of the $12.50 calls for 50 cents. Great Atlantic in October posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, hurt by pricing pressure, and said its Chief Executive Eric Claus resigned effective immediately, sending its shares down sharply. 'Short interest represented 33 percent of the float on Nov. 30, so forced buying may be contributing to the gains,' Russell said.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.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
1700 ET 29Dec2009-US STOCKS
Market slips in low volume trade; data mixed
U.S. stocks edged lower in a low-volume session on Tuesday, breaking a six-day string of gains as investors found little reason to push stocks higher as the year's end approached.
Data showing a rise in consumer confidence was offset by a housing report pointing to more bumps in the road.
The day's decline followed six days of gains. But the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 index is still up 25 percent for the year.
For more please double click
Reuters Messaging rm://caroline.valetkevitch.reuters.com@reuters.net
1646 ET 29Dec2009
Traders pick up Ford Motor put options
About 52,000 put options changed hands in Ford Motor Co, more than twice the number of its calls, Trade Alert data show. Ford shares slipped 9 cents to $10.11. Most of the action was concentrated in the February contract, where one investor bought 17,000 $7 put strikes at a 7-cent premium and 12,000 $8 puts at 12 cents apiece, said Frederic Ruffy, options strategist at WhatsTrading.com. The strikes had a combined turnover of 34,034 contracts, according to Reuters data.
The action stands in contrast to Monday, when shares hit a 52-week high of $10.37 and settled higher at $10.20. On that day, 62,000 calls and 19,000 puts traded. But open interest data suggest that less than 7,000 of Monday's calls were opening trades compared to an additional 8,652 put positions, Ruffy said. The put activity comes ahead of monthly auto sales due next Tuesday and the automaker's quarterly results expected in late January or early February.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1512 ET 29Dec2009
Cephalon upside call options stir interest
Option traders exchanged about 11,000 call contracts in drugmaker Cephalon Inc, more than three times the average daily turnover compared to 1,129 puts by late afternoon, according to Trade Alert. The most active contracts were the May $75 call strikes, the January $65 and $70 call strikes as shares rose 1.9 percent to $62.26.
An investor paid $1.25 in premium for the May $75 calls, which traded 5,000 times vs. 105 contracts of open interest, said WhatsTrading.com option strategist Frederic Ruffy. A total of 5,460 contracts now traded in that strike price, according to Reuters data.
Open Interest across the entire option board was heavily skewed toward the upside with 116,000 calls vs. 55,000 puts, according to Trade Alert. The company said last week that U.S. health regulators delayed a decision on whether to approve Cephalon's sleep disorder drug Nuvigil to treat sleepiness caused by jet lag by three months. For details, see
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1445 ET 29Dec2009
Traders sell U.S. Steel puts as shares dip
Investors may be using a decline in U.S. Steel Corp as a chance to sell put options on the company, possibly to book some profits. U.S. Steel shares fell 2.62 percent to $55.01 late in the session. Andrew Wilkinson, senior market analyst at Interactive Brokers Group, said at least 1,000 put options were earlier written at the $55 strike in the February contract. By taking in an average $3.80 premium today implies the investor is willing to pay an effective $51.20 for U.S. Steel shares, which might not happen if commodity prices continue the New Year on a firm footing, he said.
The investor could also be banking nice gains using options. On Monday, the stock hit a high of $58.19, while those puts traded 1,500 times at around a $3.40 premium, he said.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1414 ET 29Dec2009
Bulls line up for Great Atlantic calls
Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co Inc shares rose 5 cents to $11.84 late in the session. In the options market, buyers opened new positions in the January $12.50 calls with 2,736 contracts traded earlier vs. 2,088 in open interest, said WhatsTrading.com option strategist Frederic Ruffy. ISEE data on the International Securities Exchange confirm that customers are buying-to-open. It might be a play on earnings, which are expected around Jan. 12, he said. The stock has spent the past two months consolidating above $10, and now traders are looking for the heavily shorted supermarket chain to push toward $13, said optionMonster analyst David Russell in comments on the Web site. The firm's tracking program also detected heavy buying of the $12.50 calls for 50 cents. Great Atlantic in October posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, hurt by pricing pressure, and said its Chief Executive Eric Claus resigned effective immediately, sending its shares down sharply. 'Short interest represented 33 percent of the float on Nov. 30, so forced buying may be contributing to the gains,' Russell said.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.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.