Monday’s Options Alerts…
Stocks rallied modestly on this pre-holiday
trading day as an unexpected rise in consumer sentiment helped boost stocks. The
Dow
(
$INDU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) regained the 10,000 level as Honeywell
(
HON |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and
(
CAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
reiterated their fourth quarter and full year earnings targets. The VIX
(
$VIX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) opened
near its highs and closed near its lows of the day. This intraday shift in sentiment
suggests that fear is on the decline. The VIX did trigger a CVR
VI sell signal today. The VIX is once again in oversold territory which
suggests that the market is getting overbought. The VXN
(
$VXN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) opened in
the top third of its range and closed in the bottom third. This intraday shift in sentiment is also telling us that fear is
declining. The VXN triggered a CVR
I buy signal today.
Points of Significance:
ArQule
(
ARQL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) shot up 30% on over eight times
its average trading volume. Pfizer
(
PFE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) announced that it has extended a drug
development pact with ArQule. In addition, Pfizer will make a $10 million equity
investment in the company. Arqule stock did meet resistance at its .618
retracement level from its May 21 high to its September 20 low. Shares of
Manugistics Group
(
MANU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) jumped over 22% today as it reported better than
expected third quarter earnings. The company also raised its estimates for next
quarter. Manugistic’s shares did manage to crack above its .382 retracement
level from its June high to its September low. Its options traded almost four
times its average volume. Riverstone Networks
(
RSTN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) jumped 13% today on
heavy volume after posting better than expected earnings yesterday. The
stock is trying to rally out of a pullback. Worldcom
(
WCOM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) is also trying
to come out of a pullback. Worldcom’s implied volatility has gone to a new low,
thus making its options cheap.
| Volatility Index |
Close | Net Change |
Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average |
Significance |
| VIX | 23.29 | DOWN 1.09 | CVR VI SELL |
7.10 % Below | Not At Extreme |
| VXN | 50.96 | DOWN 1.95 |
CVR I BUY |
0 % Above |
Not At Extreme |
Abnormal Options Volume With Price Movement
— Abnormal options volume (calls and puts) with stock price movement
| Name | Symbol | Net % Change |
Volume | Avg. Volume |
| ArQule | ARQL | + 30.63 | 786 | 252 |
| Manugistics Group | MANU | + 22.91 | 4668 | 1203 |
| Cognos | COGN | + 14.89 | 3726 | 134 |
| Riverstone Networks | RSTN | + 13.55 | 3655 | 1673 |
| Intrado Inc. | TRDO | – 12.01 | 1244 | 285 |
| Global Industries | GLBL | + 11.16 | 919 | 172 |
Stocks With Biggest Spikes in Implied
Volatility — Stocks with biggest increases or decreases in implied
volatility compared to previous day
Spike Up
| Name | Symbol | IV | Previous IV |
High IV |
Low IV |
| Pediatrix Medical Group | PDX | 75 | 59 | 95.4 | 37.1 |
| Electronic Data Systems | EDS | 38.9 | 32.9 | 53.9 | 31.2 |
| Expedia Inc. | EXPE | 65.2 | 55.7 | 100.2 | 49.7 |
| ADC Telecom | ADCT | 91 | 80 | 86.4 | 75.4 |
| Solutia | SOI | 38 | 33.7 | 43.5 | 32 |
| JDA Software | JDAS | 68.4 | 61 | 75.5 | 54.3 |
Spike Down
| Name | Symbol | IV | Previous IV |
High IV |
Low IV |
| SEI Investments | SEIC | 44.6 | 60.8 | 66.8 | 40.9 |
| Abitibi-Consolidated | ABY | 39.3 | 53.2 | 69.1 | 31.3 |
| WorldCom | WCOM | 42.9 | 56.2 | 60.3 | 48.3 |
| Niagara Mohawk |
NMK | 20.3 | 25.9 | 36.2 | 20.6 |
| Hibernia Class A |
HIB | 27.5 | 34.1 | 40.3 | 30.1 |
| Northeast Utilities |
NU | 25.1 | 30.8 | 30.8 | 24.3 |
Please use stops on every trade!