Monday’s Options Alerts
Price
action on the major indexes opened down, before grinding higher in
early action and chopping higher into the close. The Dow and S&P 500 closed
positive, while the Nasdaq closed negative. Big gains were made in gold and
silver, with oil service, broker/dealers, banks, and biotechnology also putting
in nice moves to the upside. Leading the losers were computer hardware,
healthcare, networking, and semiconductors.
Business news was sparse on
this thinly traded summer Friday, as speculation is now geared towards the Fed’s
Tuesday meeting, where a rate cut could be announced. The Fed Funds pit at the
Chicago Board of Trade has been trading with a 72% chance of no rate change, vs.
a 28% chance for a 25-basis point cut. If you are interested in calculating how
the Fed Funds are trading in anticipation of the announcement, you can learn how
to
here in our lesson.
The Dow Jones Industrial
Average
(
$INDU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed up 0.382% at 8745.18. The S&P 500
(
$SPX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
closed up 0.34% at 908.60 at. The Nasdaq
(
$NDX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) closed down
0.79% at 1306.05.
U.S. Treasury Bonds were
up 1’19 at 108’20..
In economic news, the productivity preliminary
number came in a 1.1% for the second-quarter vs. an expected 0.7%, adding to a
week of generally supportive evidence for an improving economy.
Market breadth was mixed,
with NYSE advancing issues over declining issues by a ratio of 1.98, and up
volume over down volume by a 1.48 ratio. Though, Nasdaq declining issues over
advancing issues came in at 1.33, and down volume beat up volume by a 2.30
ratio. The VIX was down 0.44 at 39.36. The TRIN was up 0.08 at 0.79.
Below average volume had the Dow, the S&P 500, and
the Nasdaq all closing above their 20-day moving averages. Semiconductor
Index
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 1.62% at 315.84, was unable to take out its
previous day’s range . The Broker/Dealer Index
(
$XBD.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 2.68%
at 388.66, closed at the top of its range, above its 20-day moving average.
The top sectors of the day were the Gold and
Silver Index
(
$XAU.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 7.17% at 66.13, and the Oil Service
Sector Index
(
$OSX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), up 3.98% at 79.25.
Losing
sectors of the day were the GSTI Hardware Index
(
$GHA.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down
4.52% at 153.46, and the Morgan Stanley
Healthcare Provider Index
(
$RXH.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), down 3.33% at
328.49.
Volatility Index |
Close |
Net Change |
Signals/Direction |
% Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average |
Significance |
( $VIX.X | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
39.36 | DOWN 0.44 | NONE | 3.60% Below | Not at Extreme |
| ( $VXN.X | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
58.92 | DOWN 0.37 | NONE | 4.79% 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 |
| Emulex | ( ELX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
-31.80 | 26478 | 4344 |
| Northwestern Corp. |
( NOR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
+15.60 | 2310 | 450 |
| Brocade |
( BRCD | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
-11.11 | 18241 | 6432 |
| Best Buy | ( BBY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
+8.74 | 11241 | 2873 |
| QLogic | ( QLGC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
-8.69 | 21747 | 10687 |
| Foundry Networks |
( FDRY | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
+7.62 | 2045 | 849 |
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 |
| Companhia de Bebidas |
( ABV | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
52.5 | 36.6 | 41.2 | 31.6 |
| Concord EFS |
( CEFT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
102.6 | 80.0 | 75.5 | 31.5 |
| American Water Works |
( AWK | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
16.8 | 13.1 | 15.9 | 8.7 |
| Emulex |
( ELX | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
109.8 | 88.2 | 99.6 | 74.0 |
| InterMune |
( ITMN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
149.3 | 130.9 | 118.7 | 64.2 |
Spike Down
Name |
Symbol |
IV |
Previous IV |
High IV |
Low IV |
| Advanced Auto Parts | ( AAP | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
44.7 | 62.8 | 68.8 | 25.4 |
| MGIC Investments | ( MTG | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
40.4 | 47.7 | 51.9 | 25.9 |
| S&P Smallcap iShares |
( IJR | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
29.9 | 35.3 | 36.1 | 21.5 |
| Cigna | ( CI | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating) |
43.0 | 50.7 | 51.3 | 25.1 |
Please use stops on every trade!