Be Nimble, Be Agile, Buy Agilent?
Another mushy day on Wall Street today, as traders stay on
the sidelines. General Electric
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PowerRating), Cisco
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and Lucent Technologies
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isn’t much happening here on the floor. LSI volatility is popping, as the
stock is down 5 3/8 and the vol has jumped to 95% near-term. Likewise, Lucent is
down to a fresh 52-week low, down 3 3/16 to 17 3/4 and the near-term volatility
is up to 80% from an average 65%.
Still, the bears are in charge, so why catch the falling
knife? Instead we looked at one of the tech stocks that seems to have turned
things around.
Agilent Technologies
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PowerRating) stock price surged and its
volatility sank after it reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings that crushed
analyst expectations.
The electronics testing and manufacturing company’s shares
are up 5 3/8 to 50 (as of 11:25 am CST) and the near-term volatility is down to
63% from the high 80s yesterday
If you look at the chart, you see the unsustainable gush of
buyers back in February that sent the stock to $160, but the corresponding slump
to several bounces down at $40.
mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA” Times>The
February 50 — 60 bull-call spread is trading for 3 5/8, if they buy the Feb 50
call for 7 3/4 and sell the Feb 60 call for 4 1/8. Most traders like the upside potential
and the fact that the Feb volatility is still hanging in the mid-70s. The
bull-call allows the buyer to play that upside without the same drawback of time
decay and or volatility contraction that hurt the naked option buyer.
