Friday’s Options Alerts
It was another wild ride in the
markets today as the Dow
(
$INDU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) breached below the psychological 10K mark
on an intraday basis while the Nasdaq flirted with the possibility of closing
lower for the seventh consecutive session. The selling continued for most of the
day as Enronitis flared up in Dynegy
(
DYN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Network Associates
(
NET |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating).
Broker dealers took a beating today as the SEC has launched an investigation
into the practices of their analysts. 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 slightly below the midpoint of its range. This intraday shift in
sentiment
suggests a slight decrease in fear. Today’s action in the VIX triggered a CVR
I buy signal. The VXN
(
$VXN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)Â opened near the midpoint of
its range and closed
near the lows of the day. This intraday shift in sentiment suggests a decrease in fear.
The VXN also triggered a CVR
I buy signal. Overall, volatility is rising, but we could be due for a
bounce.Â
Points of Significance:
Dynegy
(
DYN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) dived almost 30% on over
10 times its average volume. The shares were hit sharply after they announced
that the SEC launched an informal investigation into practices that led to a $80
million reduction in taxes and $35 million in other costs. The stock fell out of a descending triangle today. There is very heavy
activity in the May 20Â June 17.50 puts.
Immunomedics
(
IMMU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) dropped
almost 20% on seven times its average volume. The shares came under pressure
today on rumors of a delay in a drug trial. The shares broke down from a head
& shoulders top. There is very heavy activity in the May 12.50
puts. Â
Pacificare Health Systems
(
PHSY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
jumped 15% on triple its average volume. The shares lapped out of a two day
pullback. The stock is also breaking out of a multi-month trading range. There is heavy
activity in the May 30 and June 25 calls.Â
| Volatility Index |
Close | Net Change |
Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average |
Significance |
| VIX | 23.05 | UP 0.37 |
CVR I BUY |
6.71% Above |
Not at Extreme |
| VXN | 40.18 | NO CHG. |
CVR I BUY |
0.007 % 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 |
| Cytyc | CYTC | – 36.08 |
4871 | 565 |
| Dynegy | DYN | – 29.63 |
18170 | 3118 |
| Immunomedics | IMMU | – 19.87 |
4792 | 218 |
| Tyco International |
TYC | – 5.15 |
118454 | 30667 |
| Pacificcare Health Systems |
PHSY | + 15.29 |
6179 | 1074 |
| Vertex Pharmaceuticals |
VRTX | – 12.43 |
767 | 242 |
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 |
| McAfee.com | MCAF | 84 | 63.2 | 98.8 | 62.8 |
| Dynegy | DYN | 74.8 | 57.4 | 97.9 | 46.3 |
| Network Associates |
NET | 75.2 | 59.1 | 68.2 | 58.7 |
| General Mills |
GIS | 25 | 20 | 28.4 | 19.9 |
| International Flavors |
IFF | 36.5 | 30.3 | 32.4 | 23.3 |
| Digene | DIGE | 68.8 | 45.6 | 77.9 | 40.2 |
Spike Down
| Name | Symbol | IV | Previous IV |
High IV |
Low IV |
| Union Planters |
UPC | 12.8 | 15.9 | 29 | 17 |
| Ameren Corp. |
AEE | 16.3 | 20.2 | 25.7 | 17.1 |
| American Medical Systems |
AMMD | 36.5 | 42.4 | 64.6 | 44.2 |
| Aetna | AET | 33 | 37.5 | 45.5 | 34.4 |
| Blockbuster | BBI | 38.7 | 43.7 | 59 | 46.7 |
| Ameripath | PATH | 38.8 | 43.7 | 76.3 | 39.1 |
Please use stops on every trade!