WhatsTrading.com Options Recap — 08/27/2012

Focus is mostly on stock news and the energy markets Monday. Apple Computer (AAPL) is back in the spotlight after winning a patent dispute with Samsung. AAPL shares are up $13.27 to $676.50. Tiffany (TIF) is also rallying, even as the company’s Q2 earnings and revenues fell well short of expectations. TIF is ticking $4.46 higher to $62.96. Another merger in the auto rental industry was announced after Hertz (HTZ) announced plans to buy Dollar Thrifty (DTG). Investors cheered the news and sent shares of both companies higher. Meanwhile, with no economic data out today, whippy trading in the crude oil market is getting some attention. Crude is now down 69 cents to $95.46 after the impact of Hurricane Isaac on the Gulf is likely to be less severe than feared. Yet, there’s really not much volume or volatility on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has traded in a narrow 54-point range and is down 18 points. However, AAPL has powered the NASDAQ to a 4-point gain.

Overall options volumes are running at the slowest pace of the year, even falling below the levels seen during the July 3rd abbreviated trading session. The upcoming Labor Day holiday is one factor. The lack of any significant market moving news is another. Some players in the options market seem to be taking advantage of the lack of volume and quiet trading to initiate bearish trades on select ETFs. For example, Nov 140 – 130 put spreads on the Spiders have traded 74000X on the day. XLE and OIH – two energy-related ETFs – were the subject of bearish trading today as well. Among individual names seeing high volume, TIF is busy as the stock defies expectations and rallies in the face of poor earnings. Nokia (NOK) has seen high volume on the idea that Samsung’s loss to Apple is a positive for Nokia. Valero (VLO) and Weatherford (WFT) have seen high volume in the energy sector. VIX is up .82 to 16 despite a very narrow 6.5-point trading range in the S&P. It’s so slow, traders are literally falling to sleep in the pits —> Link.

Notable Flow
Bullish flow detected in SAIC (SAI), with 4631 calls trading, or 11x the recent avg daily call volume in the name. Shares near $11.82 (0.06) with ATMIV lifting by 3.57 point and 63% of todays call premium trading offer side. (Trade-Alert) 10:21

ADBE – Bearish activity detected in Adobe Systems with 3700 puts trading, or 2x the recent avg daily put volume in the name. Shares near $32.47 (0.21) with ATMIV lifting by 1.00 point and 88% of todays put premium trading offer side. (Trade-Alert) 12:51
VRA – Bullish flow detected in Vera Bradley Inc with 2019 calls trading, or 4x the recent avg daily call volume in the name. Shares near $22.935 (-1.575) with ATMIV lifting by 11.14 point and 56% of todays call premium trading offer side. (Trade-Alert) 12:41

High options volume is being seen in NOK, VLO, WFT, BBY, HD, TIF, HTZ, P, TC, EWY

Movers
Symbol Last Change %Change StdDevs
KNXA 45.85 +13.46 +41.6% 9.80
JKS 3.37 +0.52 +18.2% 2.88
HCBK 7.45 +1.00 +15.6% 9.16
SRPT 12.37 +1.59 +14.7% 3.01
DDMG 3.31 -0.44 -11.7% 3.66
BWEN 2.00 -0.26 -11.5% 2.13
CMEDY 3.86 -0.49 -11.3% 1.19
NEON 4.23 +0.41 +10.7% 2.29
MVIS 2.38 +0.23 +10.7% 1.96
CACH 3.43 +0.33 +10.6% 3.30

Shakers (Implied volatility Movers)
Symbol IV[30d] IVChg IVChg% SkewAdjChg Last Change
DTG 2.9% -33.4 -92.0% -27.9 $87.06 +6.07
TIF 26.6% -15.4 -36.8% -13.3 $63.14 +4.64 Post-Earnings
JNK 6.6% +1.6 +32.5% +0.6 $40.03 +0.04
LLY 17.0% +3.9 +29.3% +3.2 $44.66 +0.80
SAI 37.2% +8.1 +27.8% +8.6 $11.76 +0.00
AGP 3.6% -1.3 -27.1% -1.3 $90.91 +0.09
HSP 24.5% +5.2 +26.7% +1.6 $33.86 +0.12
IBKR 22.4% +4.6 +25.9% +3.9 $13.78 -0.05
WCRX 36.1% +6.4 +21.4% +4.6 $16.98 -0.47
SRZ 16.1% +2.7 +20.4% N/A $14.28 -0.02

Tags: market update, Sentiment

Category: Market Update