Monday’s Option Alerts

  • February 28, 2003
  • Chris Tyler

Lots of chop on the daily
perspective in the ETFs since we last left off. In
a news driven environment with the averages being held hostage by geopolitical
affairs we should probably expect little else, and why the chart below might
make a case for support in volatility premiums. The ETFs as mentioned have been
up, down, and all around as of late, and still in a band of resistance, with
very few market participants making any bets as evidenced by recent volume, and
price action. 

I personally don’t have an opinion as to how long
this will all last, but when the day does come, stay prepared to trade with the
right spreads for the occassion at hand. I will say this much, if the semis are
giving us a clue, verticals with a bullish stance will make the most sense, for
the move out of our recent trading range.

Points of Significance:

Volatility
Index		 Close Net
Change		 Signals/Direction %
Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average		 Significance
VIX 34.15 Down
-1.04		       
None		 4.5%
Below 		Not
at Extreme
VXN 45.66 Down -.50       
None		 2.21% Below Not
at Extreme

Abnormal Options Volume — This list
includes both percentage movers that are normally associated with an increase in
options activity, as well as stocks that have unusually high activity and / or
technical situations,
reflecting increased speculation of a potential price move.

Name Symbol Net
% Change		 Volume Avg.
Volume
Semiconductor
HOLDRs 
SMH		      
 +3.5%		 37500 14000
OmniVision
OVTI		        +6% 4348 627
Intuit
INTU		        +3% 7785 1035

 

Stocks With Spikes in Implied
Volatility — Stocks with Increases and Decreases in implied
volatility compared to previous day. Candidates are then screened qualitatively.
These lists represent those issues that carry a blend of liquidity and/or
technical setups that might deserve further notice. 

Spike Up

None Today.

Spike Down

Name Symbol IV Previous
IV		 High
IV		 Low
IV
JDA
Software
JDAS		 61 67 119 64
Jabil
Circuits
JBL		 53 58 90 58
QLogic QLGC 54 59 109 61
SanDisk SNDK 69 74 103 62

 

Please use stops on every trade!