Friday’s Options Alerts
A small plane crash in Milan, Italy, rocked the markets today, rekindling fears of terrorist attacks. However, the major indices shed most of their losses by the close. A mixed bag of earnings didn’t help the
markets either. After the close on Wednesday, IBM
(
IBM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) announced earnings
that were in line with estimates, but warnings from Nokia
(
NOK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Advanced
Micro Devices
(
AMD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) hurt hardware stocks. Also in after hours action,
Microsoft
(
MSFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) missed their third quarter earnings, so expect downside
action and more volatility tomorrow. For more information on today’s action, please refer to
the market
recap.
The VIX
(
$VIX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
opened near the lower third of its range near the midpoint of its range. This intraday shift in
sentiment
suggests a decrease in fear as worries of the crash being a terrorist related
subsided. Once again no CVR signals was triggered by the VIX today. The VXN
(
$VXN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) opened and closed in the bottom third of its range. This too suggests a decrease in fear. The VXN did not trigger any CVR signals either.Â
Points of Significance:
Nokia
(
NOK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) dropped over 12% on
double its average volume. The company reported better than expected first
quarter earnings but warned that sales would only grow between 4% and 9% compared
to previous estimates of 15% growth. The company cited that the recovery is
taking longer than expected. Nokia also warned that its second quarter earnings
will also fall below expectations. The shares are continuing to trade within a
downward channel. The stock appears to be heading towards the bottom of its channel.
Colgate Palmolive
(
CL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) dropped 6.5% on
over six times its average volume. Despite reporting earnings that met expectations,
the stock caved in due to pressure about its volume growth. The company showed a
2.5% increase in volume growth compared to a 4% increase last quarter. There is
heavy activity in the August 55 and 60 calls.
Timberland
(
TBL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) dropped 7% on
four times its average volume. The company reported disappointing earnings and
warned of lower revenues ahead. The company reported earnings of 23 cents
compared to 43 cents a year ago. Timberland blamed the drop on a slowdown in
high end foot wear. The shares have gained almost 50% since early February. It did bounce off its .382 retracement today.
| Volatility Index |
Close | Net Change |
Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average |
Significance |
| VIX | 21.24 | UP 1.06 |
NONE | 0.38% Above |
Not at Extreme |
| VXN | 39.34 | UP 0.05 |
NONE | 4.84 % 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 |
| Nokia Corp. |
NOK | – 12.26 |
28827 | 10580 |
| Sandisk | SNDK | – 11.70 |
3955 | 974 |
| Advanced PCS |
ADVP | + 8.61 |
3895 | 598 |
| Colgate-Palmolive | CL | – 6.58 |
7640 | 427 |
| Timberland | TBL | – 7.16 |
413 | 179 |
| Honeywell | HON | – 5.33 |
7319 | 2674 |
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 |
| Compania Anonima |
VNT | 62.8 | 53 | 93.5 | 41.1 |
| Astrazeneca ADS |
AZN | 30.4 | 25.7 | 37.7 | 24.2 |
| Quintiles | QTRN | 45.4 | 38.4 | 62.7 | 36 |
| Aquila | ILA | 34 | 29.2 | 30.9 | 28 |
| GP Financial |
GPT | 25.9 | 22.3 | 46.5 | 23.3 |
| Applied Materials |
AMAT | 53 | 45.7 | 76 | 46.1 |
Spike Down
| Name | Symbol | IV | Previous IV |
High IV |
Low IV |
| IBM | IBM | 28.4 | 36.3 | 35.9 | 28.1 |
| Express Scripts |
ESRX | 39.1 | 49.2 | 67.2 | 30.4 |
| Trimeris | TRMS | 62.8 | 78.6 | 82.2 | 49.8 |
| M & T Bank |
MTB | 14.3 | 17 | 30.2 | 15 |
| Leggett & Platt |
LEG | 20.8 | 24 | 33.4 | 18.2 |
| Pharmaceutical HOLDR |
PPH | 16.2 | 18.6 | 25.4 | 15 |
Please use stops on every trade!