Order Volume Slips Further As Fed Meeting Looms Ominously

• January 29, 2001
• Tony Saliba

Options players must
be  gearing up for what could turn
out to be a volatile week of trading, because the level of action this morning
is extremely light. All eyes and ears are on the Fed meeting later this week,
whose agenda contains the possibility of further rate cuts. 
But “later” is the key word here: Morning order flow volume slackened
today from even Friday’s  somewhat
anemic pace, registering a 2 on a scale of 1 to 10. This is only 

It appears that
options players are continuing their practice of the latter part of last week,
namely holding back from committing themselves until the contours of the
economic battlefield are better mapped out. 

Here are
today’s numbers…

Pre-open
order volume was very light this morning. Overall, call sellers led buyers 3:2,
while put sellers squashed buyers at 3:2.  In pre-bell activity, QCOM call
sellers outnumber buyers 6:1, while put buyers trounce sellers 2:1. SUNW call
sellers led buyers 4:1.  JNPR call
buyers showed up leading sellers 7:2.  
VRTS call sellers crushed buyers 5:1. 
EMC call buyers beat up sellers 3:1.

First-hour
order volume remained very light this morning. Overall, call sellers led buyers
3:2, while put sellers beat buyers at 3:2.  In first hour activity, MSFT
call sellers outnumber buyers 2:1, while put buyers trounce sellers 5:2. NTAP
call sellers led buyers 3:1.  ARBA
call buyers showed up leading sellers 2:1. 
CSCO call buyers showed up leading sellers 3:1. 
C call sellers crushed buyers 3:1.  EMC
call buyers beat up sellers 3:1.  PFE
call sellers crushed buyers 12:1.

With
order volume continuing to slow and no clear opportunities standing out, we
refrain from initiating any new strategies just now. Our searches remain
unexciting, and we continue to lay in wait…

Keep
those questions coming….tonys@tradingmarkets.com