Small Cap Stocks
Newcastle Investment Corp (NCT) $10.67 -3.00%
Newcastle Investment (NCT), a New York-based diversified REIT, is off 26 cents to $10.74 and recent trades on the stock include a sweep of 1,130 Mar 10 calls for 75 cents per contract when the market was 60 to 75 cents. More than 5,000 traded against 1,915 in open interest. Mar 12.5 calls are the [...]
MGIC Investment Corp (MTG) $2.56 -1.54%
MGIC (MTG) loses 4 cents to $2.56 and a 5000-lot of Mar 2.5 puts is bought on the stock for 26 cents per contract. 5,585 now traded against 2,579 in open interest. Mar 2 and Apr 2.5 puts are the next most actives and 30-day ATM implied volatility in MTG is up 13 percent, elevated [...]
Keryx Biopharmaceuticals Inc (KERX) $6.50 -3.27%
Buyer pays 90 cents for a total of 10K Jan 7-10 call spread on Keryx Biopharma today. Shares spent most of 2012 around $2, but saw a spiek to nearly 10 earlier this month and have since drifted back to current level near 6.51. P/C skew is kinked very strongly to the upside for the [...]
Ebix com (EBIX) Volatility Spikes on Negative SA Story
Big implied volatility spike in EBIX on reports the company hid from regulators a $65.8 million loan to its Singapore unit. Gotham City Research posted the allegations on the Seeking Alpha blog — LINK TO BLOOMBERG STORY. The stock is down $2.72 to $16.35 on increasing turnover of 1 million shares. Jun 22, Apr 15 [...]
InterMune Inc (ITMN) $9.27 +1.64%
Intermune (ITMN) ticks 16 cents higher to $9.28 after Bloomberg ran a story highlighting the company as a takeover play and ahead of earnings, due out tomorrow afternoon. One player in the options market doesn’t seem too impressed and sold an Oct 8 – 11 strangle on the biotech at $2.85, 2500X, to open.
DineEquity Inc (DIN) $74.93 -1.15%
DineEquity (DIN), a Glendale, CA restaurants company, is off 67 cents to $75.13 and an investor sells a Jun 65 – 85 bearish risk-reversal on the stock at 35 cents, 7500X, to open. It’s tied to 300k shares for $75.40 (adjusted). A separate block of 220K shares traded a bit earlir. The activity might be [...]
Valassis Communication (VCI) $31.30 +1.26%
Valassis Comm (VCI) ticks 34 cents higher to $31.25 and a 3500-lot of Mar 35 calls trades on the stock for 35 cents per contract when the market was 20 to 35 cents. It will create the largest block of OI in the name. In fact, today’s volume in the Mar 35 calls of 3,731 [...]
Forest Oil Corporation (FST) $6.20 -2.36%
May 6 puts on Forest Oil (FST) are seeing a second day of interest ahead of earnings. The Denver, CO oil and gas company reports after the closing bell. Yesterday’s flow (see 2/19 color) created almost 6,000 contracts of new open interest. At 13,492, the May 6 put is now the largest block of OI [...]
Fortuna Silver Mines Inc (FSM) $4.20 -0.96%
Fortune Silver Mines (FSM) is off a nickel to $4.19 and 3000 June 2.5 calls traded on the stock. Most traded for $1.70 and $1.85 per contract on ISE. A customer is buying the in-the-money calls, to open, according to ISEE data. The activity comes after a four-day 9.3 percent loss in the underlying.
Chimera Investment Corporation (CIM) $3.00 -2.12%
Mortgage REIT Chimera (CIM) saw an opening purchase of 20,000 Mar 3 puts for a dime Friday (see 2/15 color) and now focus is on the June 3 puts. The top trade is a 2000-lot for 20 cents when the market was 15 to 20 cents. The stock is down 7 cents to $3 and [...]
