Monday’s Options Alerts
Despite lukewarm economic data, stocks rebounded slightly after yesterday’s
big drop. After a lack of economic data this week, March retail sales rose 0.2%
and excluding autos, the rise was 0.4%. This was below the consensus of 0.6%
overall and 0.55%Â excluding autos. The April Michigan consumer sentiment
index also dipped a little, to 94.4 vs. March’s reading of 95.7. IBM rebounded slightly while General Electric dropped to another two-month low. Oil and oil
services stocks were the biggest losers today as May crude fell to a four-week
low. 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 its lows. This
intraday shift in sentiment suggests that fear is decreasing. Today’s action in
the VIX triggered a CVR
I buy signal. The VXN
(
$VXN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) displayed similar action as it, too, opened near
its highs and closed near its lows. This shift in intraday sentiment also shows fear
decreasing. The VXN triggered multiple CVR
buy signals today. Techs have really sold off this week and with multiple
CVR signals setting up, we could be due for a nice bounce.Â
Points of Significance:
Echelon
(
ELON |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) dropped over 8% on almost double its average volume.
The company reported first quarter results of 7 cents a share, beating estimates. The results also represented an 119% increase from
the same quarter a year ago. The stock is backing off after hitting the top of
its channel line. Â
Movie Gallery
(
MOVI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
dropped over 8.5% on double its average volume. The company came under pressure
today as it announced that it was planning to sell 3.9 million shares. The
shares did take out a short-term trendline.
Powerwave Technologies
(
PWAV |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
gained over 6% on
over seven times its average volume. Yesterday the company reported earnings
that beat Street expectations. The shares are currently trading in a descending
triangle. There is very heavy activity in the May 12.50 puts.
| Volatility Index |
Close | Net Change |
Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average |
Significance |
| VIX | 22.09 | DOWN 0.24 |
CVR I BUY |
4.39% Above |
Not at Extreme |
| VXN | 42.81 | DOWN 0.86 |
CVR I, II, VI BUY |
4.64 % 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 |
| Net IQ Corporation |
NTIQ | + 13 |
859 | 409 |
| Echelon Corporation |
ELON | – 8.83 |
1121 | 375 |
| Movie Gallery |
MOVI | – 8.55 |
607 | 152 |
| Powerwave Technologies |
PWAV | + 6.58 |
49078 | 821 |
| XM Satellite Radio |
XMSR | + 6.33 |
1908 | 232 |
| Millenium Pharmaceuticals |
MLNM | + 5.43 |
3585 | 1647 |
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 |
| Cendant | CD | 46.3 | 38 | 63.8 | 34 |
| Packaging Corp |
PKG | 33.3 | 27.9 | 42.8 | 27.9 |
| Int’l Flavors |
IFF | 24.6 | 20.8 | 34.5 | 24.8 |
| Ameripath | PATH | 53.7 | 45.6 | 76.3 | 39.1 |
| ICOS | ICOS | 78.2 | 66.8 | 55.2 | 46.6 |
| ImClone Systems |
IMCL | 94.5 | 84.6 | 132 | 45 |
Spike Down
| Name | Symbol | IV | Previous IV |
High IV |
Low IV |
| Financial Sector SPDRs |
XLF | 13.4 | 16.8 | 28.4 | 14 |
| U.S. Bancorp |
USB | 22.6 | 27.4 | 44.9 | 25.8 |
| Mercury Interactive |
MERQ | 65 | 78.7 | 89.9 | 62 |
| Istar Financial |
SFI | 18.9 | 22.2 | 31.1 | 19.1 |
| Huntington Bancshares |
HBAN | 49.7 | 23.7 | 37.4 | 23.5 |
| Northern Trust |
NTRS | 24.6 | 28.8 | 39.8 | 23.8 |
Please use stops on every trade!