Monday’s Options Alerts…
The major averages ended slightly lower today
as
more profit-taking and news of an incident involving a man with a gun at an
Atlanta airport helped drag the markets lower. The VIX
(
$VIX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) opened
near the upper end of its range and closed near its lows of the
day. This intraday shift in sentiment suggests that fear is still continuing to subside as
investors feel that a resolution to the war in Afghanistan is on the horizon. No
CVR signals were triggered today. However, we remain overbought, and we are
getting closer to a CVR II sell signal. The VXN
(
$VXN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) exhibited the
same action as the VIX today, as it also opened near its highs and closed
near its lows. Just like the VIX, this intraday action also shows that
fear is continuing to subside. The VXN did not trigger any CVR signals
today either, but it too is overbought and getting close to a CVR II sell
signal.
Points of Significance:
Pep Boys
(
PBY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) jumped over 11% on over four times its average daily trading volume
after it
reported third-quarter earnings that were in-line with analysts’ estimates. Pep
Boys reported earnings of 19 cents per share, compared with a year-ago loss of
$1.24. Options on Pep Boys traded three times the average volume. Amdocs
(
DOX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gained almost 10% today on three times its average
trading volume. The stock continued to head higher after breaking out of a
base. Its options activity was very heavy, as it traded over 15 times its
average contract volume. Starbucks
(
SBUX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) fell almost 9% today after it
announced that its earnings growth will slide to between 10% – 15% compared to
the previous forecast of 25% for the second half of 2002.
Options volume was heavy as it traded over six times its average number of
contracts. TiVo
(
TIVO |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) continued to pull back after recent highs today. Its
implied volatility is approaching new lows. TyCom
(
TCM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) headed slightly lower
today on 1/10 of its average trading volume. Its implied volatility is at a
new low, which suggests that its option premiums are getting cheap.
| Volatility Index |
Close | Net Change |
Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average |
Significance |
| VIX | 27.17 | – 0.61 | NONE | 7.65 % Under | Not At Extreme |
| VXN | 55.04 | – 2.41 | NONE | 4.21 % Under |
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 |
| Pep Boys | PBY | + 11.40 | 354 | 101 |
| Genesis Microchip |
GNSS | – 9.63 |
5681 | 1532 |
| JDS Uniphase |
JDSU | + 9.43 |
32263 | 13769 |
| Avanex | AVNX | + 10.64 |
931 | 314 |
| Amdocs Ltd. | DOX | + 9.93 | 40669 | 2667 |
| Starbucks | SBUX | – 8.71 |
15607 | 2414 |
Stocks With Biggest Spikes in Implied
Volatility – Stocks with biggest increases or decreases in implied
volatility compared to the previous day.
Spike Up
| Name | Symbol | IV | Previous IV |
High IV |
Low IV |
| Quantum DLT Storage | DSS | 64 | 47.8 | 49.1 | 37.7 |
| Woolworth | Z | 57.7 | 48.4 | 60.8 | 42.3 |
| Providian Financial | PVN | 163.7 | 144.1 | 141.6 | 42.6 |
| Schering Plough | SGP | 38.3 | 34.6 | 43.5 | 30.1 |
| Banc One | ONE | 32.4 | 29.5 | 51.3 | 23.5 |
| Montana Power | MTP | 92.3 | 84.3 | 92.1 | 54.3 |
Spike Down
| Name | Symbol | IV | Previous IV |
High IV |
Low IV |
| Expedia, Inc. | EXPE | 75.8 | 100.4 | 100.2 | 49.7 |
| GATX Corp. | GMT | 41.4 | 53.8 | 62.9 | 25.5 |
| Computer Network Technology |
CMNT | 64 | 81.6 | 85.9 | 68.2 |
| TiVo, Inc. | TIVO | 84.3 | 104.6 | 129.4 | 82.3 |
| ServiceMaster | SVM | 23.9 | 29.1 | 37.7 | 21.5 |
| TyCom LTD | TCM | 32.3 | 39.1 | 94.9 | 36.7 |
Please use stops on every trade!