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Posts Tagged ‘PALM’

Wild Weekly Wrap-Up – August in Retrospect

It has been a crazy few weeks!

I went back over our Long Shots list from August 9th, thinking all our picks must be doing great but really only C, with a 67% gain, is really outperforming.  Long spreads on UYG and BHI are on target for nice gains but haven’t moved much.  Looking at our original picks in Pharmboys Phavorites from the same week, GSK is on track and up nicely already, our AZN cover is up 45% and MRK flew up 19% already.  On the riskier Biotech side, ARIA’s stock is up 16% and our spreads are all performing well, ONTY has been flat, OGXI is up 33% and the Jan $17.50s are up a rockin’ 63% with that "cautious" spread up a surprising 75% already

SPPI had a wild ride (as we predicted with TSCM’s failed assassination attempt) and the buy/write is already up 24%, the Feb vertical is up 50% and the naked Jan put sale is up 27% and our Feb hedge play is right on track so all good there and a fine example of how following Cramer and his lackeys and and doing the opposite of what they say can be very profitable!  Congrats to Pharmboy for a very fine set of picks, proving once again that there is room for research and fundamentals - not a single loser in the bunch in a choppy market!  It was very timely as I had mentioned just that week in my interview with AOL Finance that XLV was my favorite sector and our IHI pick of 8/10 is up 28% on the naked Feb $45 put sale while the Feb $45 calls have already jumped 16%.  It was a great call as IHI outperformed XLV and all our major indexes.

So our energy service pick (BHI) and overall financial pick (UYG) have not done much in 3 weeks and those were our leading sectors into my call to cash out our exposed long calls on Aug 13th, ahead of expirations.  The Dow was at 9,400 on that day and now, a bit more than 2 weeks later, we’ve gained another 144 points but to listen to the MSM, you would think you are missing the rally of the century the past couple of weeks.  This is one of the reasons I’ve gotten a bit more cynical about the rally – there is so much hype and so…
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Mylan Rebounds After FDA Report Signals All Clear

www.interactivebrokers.com

Today’s tickers: MYL, MU, ACAD, PAAS, PALM, KLAC, LDK, OIH & SM

MYL – The global pharmaceutical manufacturer released the final findings of an FDA investigation review of its Morgantown W Va. manufacturing plant, which came under the microscope following a local newspaper’s scathing report alleging health and safety wrong doings. The FDA found nothing wrong with the operations, much to the pleasure of Mylan shareholders as new investors sent its shares higher by 3.8% to $14.12. Mylan’s valuation now stands above the point it was trading at the day prior to the story. Shares fell from $13.93 to $11.66 on the report prompting investors to seek the safety of protective puts. Investors today are taking a different take and have scooped up almost 10,000 bullish call options expiring in September granting rights to buy shares at a fixed $15 per share. The number of open positions at that strike as of Wednesday evening was 8,576 contracts. Investors paying 55 cents for calls are predicting a break to a fresh 52-week high for Mylan’s shares indicating a rally by as much as 10% within a month. Around four times the number of calls traded today compared to puts. – Mylan Inc.

MU – The demand for call options on the manufacturer of flash memory products far outweighed that of calls as investor activity drove the call-to-put ratio up to more than 25-to-1. The call option feeding-frenzy was likely induced by the more than 3.5% rally in shares of MU to $7.00. About 1,000 calls were picked up at the nearer-term September 8.0 strike price for an average premium of 15 cents apiece. Bullishness spread to the October contract where traders splurged on 5,600 now at-the-money October 7.0 strike calls for an average premium of 66 cents each. Finally, traders got long of some 7,500 call options at the higher October 8.0 strike for about 40 cents per contract. A 20% increase over the current price per share by expiration, would allow investors long the October 8.0 strike calls to begin to accumulate profits above the breakeven point at $8.40. – Micron Technology, Inc.

ACAD – Shares of the biopharmaceutical company have soared upwards of 17.5% during the trading session and currently stand at $6.23. ACAD appeared on our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner after one investor initiated a long butterfly spread in the September contract. The trader constructed the
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NRG Takeover Spills Into Curious Option Combo

www.interactivebrokers.com

Today’s tickers: EXC, NRG, PALM, ANF, CAL, AMTD & PAYX

EXC – The company has been increasingly less successful in trying to persuade shareholders at NRG – NRG Energy– to tender their shares to the company in what has become an ugly battle. Shares in both companies are on the rise today at $51.08 (Exelon) and $23.70 (NRG). Two sizeable footprints were left for analysts to explore in options trading. Here’s what we think is happening. Perhaps the easier half of the trade is a nearby July 22.50/17.50 put spread on shares of NRG. An investor bought 50,000 higher strike puts at 72 cents and sold 25,000 puts at the 17.50 for a nickel per contract. The investor likely expects that management at NRG will be successful in convincing its investors that the Exelon deal isn’t a good fit. The CEO mailed his thoughts urging investors to remain loyal to his leadership. In the event that the takeover fades, as appears the case, this investor might benefit from some of the hot money hopping out of the stock. Exelon options were a little more convoluted. An investor appears to have bought 50,000 July calls at the 55 strike at 39 cents and taking a sizeable credit on the sale of the same amount of calls expiring in August at the 50 strike. He’s possibly thinking that the near-term prospects for the company in the event of a botched deal would buoy the shares. Thereafter some of the optimism might fade. – Exelon Corp.

PALM – Shares of the Pre-maker, which launched earlier in June, are stable at $13.96 ahead of earnings data after the closing bell on Thursday. The fact that sales of the Pre won’t materially impact the bottom-line earnings numbers means we may have to wait longer for further developments from the company. However, investors have been in a buying tizzy for stock in the company all year and have driven shares from $1.14 to $15.25 recently. The options market, however, has been forced to maintain a careful eye on developments given the depths to which the shares plummeted earlier this year and still attributes a relatively high reading of implied volatility of 90% on options on the stock. That makes hedging a little more expensive that it ought and heading into earnings today, one investor appears to have tried to do so by implementing a put
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Bull foresees healthy rally for UnitedHealth Group

Today’s tickers: UNH, USO, MNKD, POT, X, MCD, PALM, S & JPM

UNH – The diversified health and well-being company has experienced a share price decline of 3.5% to $26.12. Despite the erosion in the price of the stock today we noticed a bullish play in the July contract. One investor looks to have sold 10,000 puts at the July 24 strike price for a premium of a dollar apiece in order to finance the purchase of 10,000 calls at the higher July 27 strike for 1.36 each. The net cost of the transaction amounts to 36 cents and yields a breakeven point at $27.36. In order to profit by expiration, shares of UNH would need to rally by approximately 5%. – UnitedHealth Group, Inc.

USO – Shares have remained relatively flat today at $37.37 and we observed a mixture of bullish and bearish plays on the fund. Bullishness came in the form of a calendar spread initiated by one investor looking for significant upside on the stock by expiration in October. The spread involved the sale of 10,000 calls at the in-the-money July 37 strike price for 2.45 apiece against the purchase of 10,000 calls at the higher October 42 strike for 2.25 per contract. The trader looks to have originally bought the calls at the July 37 strike on May 28th for an average premium of 1.90 each. Today he reeled in profits of 55 cents by selling the calls for 2.45. He was effectively able to reduce the cost of rolling his position forward to the October 42 strike to just 1.70 apiece. This individual will amass profits on the bullish stance if shares can rally 17% to the breakeven point at $43.70 by expiration. In contrast to such medium-term bullishness, another trader took a bearish stance in the nearer-term July contract. This individual looks to have sold 2,000 calls at the July 38 strike price for 1.85 each in order to purchase 2,000 puts at the same July 38 strike for a premium of 2.50. The net cost of shedding calls to get long of puts amounts to 65 cents and yields a breakeven point to the downside at $37.35. Shares of the USO would need to fall more than 2 cents from the current price in order for this bear to begin to amass profits on the reversal. – United States Oil Fund LP…
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Lifting the Axle

www.interactivebrokers.com

Today’s tickers: AXL, PALM, POT, XLF, EMR, AA, & BIIB

AXL – Shares of the Tier 1 supplier of parts and components to the automotive industry have rallied more than 8.5% to a whopping $2.78 today. The improvement in the stock, since touching down to just 26 cents on March 9, 2009, prompted one uber-bullish investor to enact a call spread in the October contract. The trader seems to have determined that the $300 million cut in AXL’s second- and third-quarter revenue streams, felt in the wake of its bankruptcy-brethren GM and Chrysler, will have been replenished by the fall. The summer shutdowns by the automakers are certainly painful for the time being as the two behemoths account for 90% of AXL’s annual revenue. Hoping for a ridiculous turnaround in circumstances, the investor initiated the purchase of 10,000 calls at the October 5.0 strike price for a premium of 40 cents apiece which were spread against the sale of 10,000 calls at the higher October 7.5 strike for about 15 cents each. The net cost of the transaction amounts to 25 cents and yields maximum potential profits of 2.25. Shares will need to grow with the tenacity of the Hulk in order to rally more than 169% over the next five months. – American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc.

PALM – Put options on the mobile devices company were favored by option investors on the scene today amid a share price decline of 3% to $13.22. One trader targeted the July contract in order to initiate a bearish ratio put spread. The transaction involved the purchase of 2,800 puts at the in-the-money July 14 strike puts for a premium of 2.82 per contract spread against the sale of 5,600 puts at the lower July 10 strike for about 70 cents apiece. The net cost of the pessimistic play on PALM amounts to 1.42 and yields maximum potential profits of 2.58 to the trader if shares decline down to $10.00 by expiration. Profits begin to amass if shares fall another 5% to the breakeven point at $12.58 by expiration next month. Option implied volatility has ramped up significantly over the past couple of days from 93% at the start of Thursday to the current reading of 112% ahead of the release of The Pre tomorrow. – Palm, Inc.

POT– We observed an interesting use of out-of-the-money puts by one investor on
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Pre-tense

Today’s tickers: PALM, AA, UNG, FXI, IYR, YGE, VRTX & XLF

PALM– Shares are up more than 9% to $13.67 just two days prior to the much anticipated release of Palm’s touch-screen handset, The Pre. While some reviews of the new product suggest The Pre is attractive and innovative, others have indicated that it cannot hold a candle to Apple’s iPhone. The real test will begin in two days when the phone goes on sale to the public, exclusively through U.S. carrier, Sprint Nextel Corp. (S). A number of option traders are hoping The Pre will wow consumers and subsequently boost Palm’s shares as they were seen getting long of bullish calls in the near-term June contract. More than 4,300 calls were snapped up at the June 16 strike price for a premium of 29 cents apiece. Other Pre-optimists paid just a dime per contract to pick up 2,000 calls at the higher June 20 strike price. If Palm’s new product pleases the masses, investors long of June 20 calls may realize profits if shares can climb 47% to the breakeven point at $20.10 by expiration. – Palm, Inc.

AA– The world leader in the production of primary aluminum has experienced a significant share price rally of more than 7.5% to $10.83 after the firm announced that it sees “great opportunity” for growth in Russia. Alcoa has invested some $750 million over the past five years. A large-volume call spread initiated in the October contract suggests at least one investor is hoping for continued bullish movement in the stock over the next several months. The transaction involved the purchase of 12,600 calls at the October 12.5 strike price for a premium of 1.02 apiece spread against the sale of 12,600 calls at the higher October 17.5 strike for about 23 cents. The net cost of the optimistic play amounts to 79 cents and yields maximum potential profits of 4.21 if shares rally up to $17.50 by expiration. The stock must climb approximately 23% before the investor begins to amass profits at the breakeven point of $13.29. – Alcoa, Inc.

UNG– Recovering from losses experienced earlier in the trading day, the natural gas ETF has rallied slightly by about 0.5% to $14.37. We observed an interesting play initiated by one trader once we skipped over all of the nearer-term activity on the fund to arrive at the January 2010 contract. The
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Phil's Favorites

Mind Blowing Economic Charts – First Time Claims, The Stock Market, and The Fed

Courtesy of Lee Adler of the Wall Street Examiner

Improvement in first time unemployment claims is slowing. Actual, not seasonally manipulated data, including an adjustment for the usual weekly upward revision, shows that the year to year rate of change is on the cusp of a possible upside breakout, which would be good news for stock market bears if it happens.

Initial Unemployment Claims Chart- Click to enlarge

Here’s why it’s mind blowing. I’ve plotted it below on an inverse scale with the S&P 500 overlaid.

Unemployemt Claims and Stock Prices - Click to enlarge

That speaks for itself. As the i...



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Option Review

Bulls Scoop Up Sprint Nextel Corp. Calls

 Today’s tickers: S, FTR, JTX & SBUX

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ETF Selector

US Markets Drop On Italy Fear (EWI, DIA, SPY, QQQ, IWM, TLT, GLD)

Courtesy of John Nyaradi.

Major US Markets including (NYSEARCA:DIA), (NYSEARCA:SPY), (NASDAQ:QQQ), and (NYSEARCA:IWM) dropped over 3% each on Italian bond fears and an increased worry that Europe will not be able to bail out its 4th largest economy. Furthermore, the iShares MCSI Italy Fund (NYSEARCA:EWI) wiped out over 9% today, further illustrating the dire situation in Italy and the European Union: ...

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Chart School

S&P 500 Snapshot: Down for the Day and the Week

Courtesy of Doug Short.

The S&P 500 broke its string of four-consecutive weekly gains with loss of 0.63% for the day and 2.48% for the week.

The index is back in the red year-to-date, down 0.35% and 8.09% below the interim high of April 29.

From an intermediate perspective, the index is 85.2% above the March 2009 closing low and 19.9% below the nominal all-time high of October 2007.

Below are two charts of the index, with and without the 50 and 200-day moving averages.

 


Click for a larger image ...

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Zero Hedge

Dallas Fed Latest Economic Contraction Confirmation; Survey Respondents' Gloom Soars

Courtesy of ZeroHedge. View original post here.

Submitted by Tyler Durden.

The second economic disappointment of the day comes from the Dallas Fed, which dropped from -2.0 to -11.4 on expectations of -9.0- this was the 4th consecutive negative print month. The report was, in a word, horrible, with just 2 of the 15 constituent indices posting an increase, and the bulk solidly in the red, led by Unfilled and New Orders which dropped 16.8 and 11.2, respectively: not good for economic growth. On the employment side there was nothing good either, with both employment and hours worked declining by -...



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Insider Scoop

Diana Containerships Files To Offer Stock Up To $172.5M -Bloomberg (DCIX)

Courtesy of Benzinga

Bloomberg reports that Diana Containerships (NASDAQ: DCIX) files to offer stock up to $172.5M. Diana Containerships says that Diana shipping will also buy $20M of stock.

Visit Benzinga >

...

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Sabrient

Sabrient Risers - 3/12/2011

Top 5 RisersStockRatingAnalysisVLOSTRONGBUYAn increasingly positive growth rate of past earnings, along with improving expectations for long term growth, make Valero a good prospect for high returns.KROSTRONGBUYKronos Worldwide has been gaining recognition from analysts as a good canditate for achieving higher than expected earnings along with higher overall projected valuation.SFIBUYiStar is one of the top candidates projected to achieve both higher than previously projected earnings in the short run and a higher earnings growth rate in the long run.AMATSTRONGBUYApplied Materials has been...

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OpTrader

Swing trading virtual portfolio - week of March 7th, 2011

This post is for live trades and daily comments. Please click on "comments" below to follow our live discussion. All of our current virtual trades are listed in the spreadsheet below, with entry price (1/2 in and All in), and exit prices (1/3 out, 2/3 out, and All out).

We also indicate our stop, which is most of the time the "5 day moving average". All trades, unless indicated, are front-month ATM options. 

Please feel free to participate in the discussion and ask any questions you might have about this virtual portfolio, by clicking on the "comments" link right below.

To learn more about the swing trading virtual portfolio (strategy, performance, FAQ, etc.), please click here

Optrader 

Swing trading virtual portfolio

 

One trade virtual portfolio

...

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Stock World Weekly

Stock World Weekly

NEW: Elliott and Ilene are available to chat with Members regarding topics presented in SWW, comments are found below each post.

Here's the newest Stock World Weekly:  Illusion Based on a Fantasy 

Comments welcome... share your thoughts.  

Download Newsletter 3/6/11


Stock World Weekly archives here >

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Pharmboy

Biotech Junkies Update and Momenta Pharma Moving Forward

February is now past, and the Biotech Porfolio is loaded with winners and a miss (PLX).  MRK is down a bit, but I expect that trade to recover, and one could be more agressive and double down on it, or play another round at the Jan13 $30 options for roughly the same price.  Below is the summary, and note the grey boxes are ones that did not fill.  I am still a fan of BMRN, and like DEPO as well.  Now let's look at a few others.

Table 1.  PSW Biotech Plays Since January 2011

 

Our newest play is Momenta Pharmaceuticals (MNTA), who is pursuing a three-part business model which includes complex generic equivalents in partnership with the Sandoz division of Novartis, proprietary compounds, and follow-on- biologics (FOB).  It seems that this company is tied up in competition/litigation wit...



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Philip R. Davis is a founder Phil's Stock World, a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders...

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