Friday’s Options Alerts
Buying
pressure hit the markets for the third day in a row, as the major
indexes trended higher throughout the day, and locked in nice gains at the
close. The
biggest winners were in oil service, banks, biotechnology,
healthcare, semiconductors, and
insurance stocks, with gold and silver and retail the only sectors
in the minus column.
Today’s rally was broad based,
though lower volume took away from the conviction of the move. Meanwhile
volatility came down to its 10-day moving average, while remaining above its
50-day and 200-day averages. So where to go from now? We’re in the middle of
summer, and are showing potential to set up technically to the upside. TM’s
market bias page is a good place to start for indications of future moves,
though always stay alert and aware of our ever-changing environment. Next week,
the Fed will meet to discuss a rate cut.
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed up 3.02% at 8712.02. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
closed up 3.26% at 905.44 at. The Nasdaq
(
$COMPX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed up 2.78%
at 1316.51.
U.S. Treasury Bonds were
down ’16 at 107 ’01.
In economic news, the producer price index came in
at 0.2% vs. a 0.1% forecast and the core producer price index fell 0.3%
vs. an expected increase of 0.1%. Initial jobless claims for the week were
posted at 376,000 vs. an anticipated 385,000.
Market breadth was positive,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 2.28, and up
volume over down volume by a 3.04 ratio. Nasdaq advancing issues over declining
issues came in at 1.53, and up volume beat down volume by a 3.57 ratio. The
VIX was down 3.27 at 39.80. The
TRIN was down 0.21 at 0.70.
Average volume led the Dow, the S&P 500, and the
Nasdaq to break through their downward trend lines for closes above their 20-day
moving averages. Semiconductor Index
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 4.36% at 321.07,
was halted by its downward trend line, still under its 20-day moving average.
The Broker/Dealer Index
(
$XBD.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 5.59% at 378.49, was also
halted by its downward trend line, still under its 20-day moving average.
The top sectors of the day were the Oil Service
Sector Index
(
$OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 6.31% at 76.21, and the Securities
Broker/Dealer Index
(
$XBD.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 5.59% at 378.49.
Losing
sectors of the day were the Gold and Silver Index
(
$XAL.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
down 2.54% at 61.70, and the Retail HOLDRs
(
RTH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 0.94% at
75.18.
Volatility Index |
Close |
Net Change |
Signals/Direction |
% Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average |
Significance |
( $VIX.X | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
39.80 | DOWN 3.27 | NONE | 2.90% Below | Not at Extreme |
| ( $VXN.X | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
59.29 | DOWN 9.55 | NONE | 5.09% 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 |
| Best Buy |
( BBY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
-36.52 | 12022 | 2334 |
| Millennium Pharmaceuticals |
( MLNM | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
+15.35 | 9035 | 2363 |
| Cross Country |
( CCRN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
-13.94 | 784 | 258 |
| Concord EFS | ( CEFT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
-14.06 | 9654 | 1240 |
| Whole Foods Market |
( WFMI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
+13.60 | 1449 | 362 |
| Ann Taylor | ( ANN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
+9.24 | 1254 | 532 |
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 |
| Ashland |
( ASH | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
55.1 | 29.0 | 28.0 | 17.4 |
| Concord EFS |
( CEFT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
80.0 | 65.6 | 58.1 | 31.5 |
| Highwoods Properties |
( HIW | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
30.0 | 25.0 | 30.2 | 23.4 |
| ProLogis Trust |
( PLD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
32.6 | 27.7 | 28.0 | 24.9 |
Spike Down
Name |
Symbol |
IV |
Previous IV |
High IV |
Low IV |
| Mercury Computer | ( MRCY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
73.0 | 95.8 | 71.0 | 58.0 |
| Urban Outfitters | ( URBN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
79.5 | 98.4 | 78.0 | 47.7 |
| Citigroup | ( C | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
45.1 | 55.6 | 65.0 | 23.6 |
| American Water Works |
( AWK | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
13.1 | 16.0 | 14.1 | 8.7 |
| Bank One | ( ONE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
34.3 | 41.7 | 46.2 | 22.7 |
Please use stops on every trade!