Friday’s Options Alerts…
The markets ended mixed today as the broader
market averages such as the S&P 500
(
$SPX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and the Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
head slightly higher while the Dow headed lower after being dragged down by a
rumor concerning IBM
(
IBM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating). Positive news from the retail sector
(
$RLX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
and a large drop in weekly jobless claims helped support the market. For more information
on today’s action, please
refer to the market
recap. The VIX
(
$VIX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) opened near the midpoint of its range and
closed near the lows of the day.
This intra-day shift in sentiment
suggests that fear is heading back down. Today’s action triggered a CVR
I buy signal. The VXN
(
$VXN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
opened on its highs and closed near the lows of the day. This intra-day shift in sentiment also
suggests that fear is now declining. The VXN also triggered a CVR
I buy signal today.
Points of Significance:
Med-Design
(
MEDC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) jumped 17% on almost
triple its average volume today. The shares rose on speculation that Becton
Dickinson
(
BDX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) will offer Med-Design a contract for the use of their
“safety syringes.” Options on Med Design traded over triple its average volume.
There is heavy activity in the January 15 calls and January 22.50
puts.
Despite weakness in the chip stocks, Cirrus Logic
(
CRUS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) headed higher for the third consecutive day. The shares jumped over
16% and broke above their 200-day moving average on triple average volume.
Cirrus has now retraced 50% of the move from the July high. There is heavy
activity in the January 20 and February 17.50 calls. Its implied volatility is
low, thus making its options inexpensive.
Toy giant Toys “R” Us
(
TOY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
reported that same store sales for the nine-week period ended January 5th rose
two percent compared to the same period a year ago. However the stock dropped
almost 10% on over four times its average volume. The company also stated that
they planned to meet meet analysts’ estimates for fiscal 2002. There is heavy activity in the January
20 calls.
| Volatility Index |
Close | Net Change |
Signals/Direction
|
% Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average |
Significance |
| VIX | 23.13 | DOWN 0.16 | CVR I Buy |
0.007 % Above | Not At Extreme |
| VXN | 48.66 | UP 0.38 |
CVR I Buy |
2.51% Above | 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 |
| Med-Design | MEDC | + 17.52 | 1405 | 361 |
| Cirrus Logic | CRUS | + 16.69 | 2992 | 821 |
| Numerical Technologies | NMTC | – 12.60 | 754 | 262 |
| Kos Pharmaceuticals | KOSP | – 10.24 | 1999 | 462 |
| Toys R Us | TOY | – 9.63 | 2276 | 1052 |
| Oxford Health Plans | OHP | + 7.96 | 2691 | 766 |
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 |
| Dean Foods | DF | 37.1 | 29.2 | 39.4 | 18.1 |
| Dow Chemical | DOW | 46.1 | 38.5 | 41.6 | 30.4 |
| Plum Creek Timber | PCL | 21.7 | 18.3 | 45 | 20.5 |
| Western Resources | WR | 30.1 | 25.4 | 60.2 | 26.7 |
| Georgia Pacific | GP | 57.9 | 49.8 | 55.4 | 32.3 |
| Sierra Pacific | SRP | 34.4 | 30.8 | 45.9 | 28.9 |
Spike Down
| Name | Symbol | IV | Previous IV |
High IV |
Low IV |
| Servicemaster | SVM | 19.9 | 29.8 | 33.8 | 21.5 |
| Pharmaceutical HOLDRs |
PPH | 16 | 20.5 | 31.7 | 18.1 |
| National City Corp. |
NCC | 21.5 | 57 | 36.2 | 20.2 |
| Winn-Dixie | WIN | 38.5 | 45.8 | 64.5 | 33.2 |
| MGIC Investments |
MTG | 33.2 | 39.1 | 54.4 | 25.8 |
| Telecorp PCS | TLCP | 47.8 | 56.1 | 63.2 | 49.3 |
Please use stops on every trade!