Friday’s Options Alerts
Stocks staged a late-day reversal after a drop in business activity and
fears of inflation spooked investors early in the session. The Nasdaq and
S&P shed earlier losses to end in the green while the Dow cut most of its
triple-digit losses to close slightly in the red. The February CPI
Index rose 0.2% as expected, but the core rate rose 0.3% or 0.1% above expectations.  For more information on today’s action, please refer to
the market
recap.
The VIX
(
$VIX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
opened near the top third of its range and closed near the lows of the day. Fear
ran to both ends of the spectrum today, but once again fear is still dropping.
Today’s action triggered another CVR
VI sell signal. The VIX broke last July’s lows and are now at a 18 month
low. The VXN
(
$VXN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) also opened
near the top third of its range and closed near the lows of the day. This shift in intraday sentiment also
suggests that fear is dropping. The VXN also triggered another CVR
VI sell signal. The red flag is up again as complacency is in the air.
This low-volatility situation does present an opportunity to buy cheap options
for protection.
Points of Significance:
Protein Design Labs
(
PDLI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) jumped
over 21% on over five times its average volume. Morgan Stanley came to the
stock’s rescue after  the company reported late Wednesday that its psoriasis
drug, Zenapax, did not achieve its goal. The shares are trading right up against
resistance after consolidating for the past couple of months.Â
Genta
(
GNTA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
gained 7% on over double its average volume. The shares rose to a new 52 week
high after an analyst from Needham & Co. restated his “strong buy”
recommendation. Genta also has an experimental cancer drug which is in the late
stages of testing. There is heavy activity in the April 17.50 calls.
Tech Data
(
TECD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) jumped 8% on
over triple its average volume. The company reported fourth quarter earnings of
63 cents per share compared with 92 cents per share a year ago. Tech Data attributed
the drop in earnings to weak sales.
| Volatility Index |
Close | Net Change |
Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average |
Significance |
| VIX | 19.98 | DOWN 0.75 |
CVR VI SELL |
5.66% Below | Not at Extreme |
| VXN | 36.98 | DOWN 1.18 |
CVR VI SELL |
8.87 % Below |
Near Extreme |
Abnormal Options Volume With Price Movement
—
Abnormal options volume (calls and puts) with stock price movement
| Name | Symbol | Net % Change |
Volume | Avg. Volume |
| Protein Design Labs |
PDLI | + 21.83 |
8029 | 3282 |
| Overture Services |
OVER | + 15.92 |
12839 | 1809 |
| Tech Data |
TECD | + 8.41 |
2435 | 685 |
| Waters | WAT | – 5.95 |
4191 | 638 |
| WebMethods | WEBM | + 6.93 |
1335 | 351 |
| Genta Incorporated |
GNTA | + 7.03 |
4245 | 1230 |
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 |
| Werner Ent. |
WERN | 57.7 | 49.8 | 57.5 | 48.4 |
| Xcel Energy |
XEL | 24.4 | 21.2 | 31.8 | 23 |
| Bally Total Fitness |
BFT | 41.7 | 37 | 57.6 | 40.9 |
| Seitel | SEI | 67.3 | 60 | 66.3 | 47.4 |
| Western Resources |
WR | 26.8 | 24 | 36.5 | 23.6 |
| Daimler Chrysler |
DCX | 37.6 | 34.1 | 55.3 | 31.7 |
Spike Down
| Name | Symbol | IV | Previous IV |
High IV |
Low IV |
| Pinnacle West Capital |
PNW | 14.1 | 18.9 | 32.5 | 21.1 |
| Tech Data |
TECD | 45.1 | 56.1 | 63.9 | 44.1 |
| Protein Design Labs |
PDLI | 79.5 | 98.2 | 96.7 | 71.7 |
| Equity Residential Property |
EQR | 16.1 | 19.6 | 30.2 | 18.6 |
| Ameripath | PATH | 41.3 | 50.2 | 46.3 | 40.1 |
| Reliant Resources |
RRI | 44.8 | 53.4 | 94 | 60.7 |
Please use stops on every trade!