Wednesday’s Options Alerts
The major averages rallied strongly
for the second consecutive day, thanks in part to an upgrade on
Intel
(
INTC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating); Wal-Mart’s
(
WMT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) earnings; and of course the
retail sales
report. The biggest catalyst for today’s rally was the April retail sales
report. Retail sales rose 1.2%, beating estimates of a 0.7% gain. Meanwhile, the
core rate jumped 1% vs. estimates of 0.5%.
Just about every sector was green
today. The biggest winners included software and semiconductor issues which were
up 6.41% and 6.3%, respectively. Gold and Oil stocks were the biggest losers of
the day. In after-hours news, Applied Materials
(
AMAT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported better-than-expected second quarter results. The stock is already up 5%. For more information on today’s action, please refer to
the market
recap.
The VIX
(
$VIX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
opened near its highs and closed near the midpoint of its range. This shift
in intraday sentiment suggests a decrease in fear. No CVR signals were triggered
today, but we are getting close to a CVR III sell. The VXN
(
$VXN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) opened near
the top third of its range and closed
near its lows. This shift
in intraday sentiment also suggests that fear is decreasing. No CVR signals
were triggered by the VXN either. Volatility continued to get hammered today on
the better-than-expected retail sales report. Volatility is getting somewhat
oversold.
Points of Significance:
Brocade
(
BRCD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) jumped 10% on
double its average volume. The shares were halted today after the company
mistakenly reported its third quarter revenue target. Brocade now expects third
quarter revenue to come in between $145 to $150 million, higher than estimates
of $142 million. The company will announce second-quarter results after the
close tomorrow.
Micron Technology
(
MU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) jumped
11% on heavy volume. Despite Merrill cutting its full year estimates last week,
Micron’s shares have already jumped over 20%. There is resistance ahead at its
.50 retracement level at 27.08. There is heavy activity in the July 27.50 puts.
| Volatility Index |
Close | Net Change |
Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average |
Significance |
| VIX | 21.75 | DOWN 1.76 |
NONE | 7.56% Below |
Near Extreme |
| VXN | 44.34 | DOWN 1.78 |
NONE | 5.46 % Below |
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 |
| Genesis Microchip |
GNSS | + 17.53 |
10107 | 2729 |
| ESS Technology |
ESST | + 15.43 |
2090 | 798 |
| PMC Sierra |
PMCS | + 12.60 |
9454 | 3071 |
| Micron Technology |
MU | + 11.44 |
28460 | 9433 |
| Brocade Communications |
BRCD | + 10.56 |
30671 | 7794 |
| Yahoo! | YHOO | + 9.82 |
17037 | 4310 |
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 |
| National City Corp. |
NCC | 22.2 | 16.7 | 26.7 | 16.9 |
| Reliant Energy |
REI | 66.4 | 54 | 36.8 | 28.1 |
| Telefonos de Chile |
CTC | 39.8 | 33.2 | 37.7 | 26.1 |
| Simplex Solutions |
SPLX | 51 | 42.7 | 92.5 | 37.1 |
| American Capital Strategies |
ACAS | 27.2 | 23.7 | 42 | 22.4 |
| AK Stell Holdings |
AKS | 45 | 40.1 | 59.4 | 38.6 |
Spike Down
| Name | Symbol | IV | Previous IV |
High IV |
Low IV |
| Financial Sector SPRDs |
XLF | 10.5 | 15.6 | 26.3 | 13.9 |
| Wisconsin Energy |
WEC | 16.5 | 20 | 23.5 | 17.1 |
| Companhia De Bebidas |
ABV | 34.5 | 41.1 | 40.7 | 33.7 |
| Biovail | BVF | 65.4 | 76.9 | 74.8 | 33.8 |
| York International |
YRK | 27.6 | 31.5 | 34.6 | 27.5 |
| Administaff | ASF | 63 | 71.7 | 72.8 | 56.3 |
Please use stops on every trade!