VALE loses 38 cents to $22.98 and it looks like an April 23 – 24 put spread is sold on the Brazilian metals company at 62 cents, 6250X. It might close, as both legs of the spread are now in-the-money (register to read more …) [...]

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Volatility continues in the coal names, but morning losses have been pared and some are now well off session lows. Alpha Natural Resources (ANR), which was the subject of increasing action yesterday (see 3/5 color), hit a morning low of (register to read more …) [...]

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Patriot Coal (PCX) is down 8.7 percent to $6.29 on heavy turnover of 5.2 million shares. Options action is picking up in the coal producer as well. 6,160 calls and 2,000 puts traded on the stock so far. The activity (register to read more …) [...]

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Options order flow in Pan American Silver (PAAS) seems bullish today, even as the metal sees a dramatic mid-morning reversal and a sharp sell-off Wednesday. Silver traded as high as $37.48 early, but was recently down $1.25 to $35.89. (Gold (register to read more …) [...]

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Arch Coal (ACI) loses 47 cents to $13.39 after Argus downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy. Options order flow on the coal producer is bullish, however, as 15,000 calls and 3,100 puts traded in the name. Recent trades include (register to read more …) [...]

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Barrick Gold (ABX) edges 17 cents higher to $49.34 after gold rebounded from recent losses and is trading up $11 to $17.36 an ounce. Options action in the gold miner today includes a 4150-lot of Feb 50 calls for 57 (register to read more …) [...]

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72,000 calls and 15,000 puts traded on Barrick Gold (ABX). Shares are down 18 cents to $48.16 and possibly falling in sympathy with Newmont Mining (NEM), which lost 3.3 percent after lowering its outlook for production for 2012. Gold is (register to read more …) [...]

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James River Coal (JRCC) adds 24 cents to $6.53 and options action on the coal producer is heating up today. June 7 calls, which are 7.2 percent out-of-the-money, are the most actives. The flow includes two sweeps of 1350 contracts (register to read more …) [...]

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Implied volatility in MolyCorp (MCP) is moving higher amid active trading in the options on the stock after China said it was keeping rare earth material export quotas unchanged in 2012. Supply concerns sent MCP down $3.5 to $28.5 per (register to read more …) [...]

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Kinross Gold (KGC) loses 48 cents to $11.63 amid volatility in the miners today after the yellow metal slumped below $1600 an ounce. One player in the options market seems to view the decline as an opportunity for a bullish (register to read more …) [...]

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