Thursday’s Options Alerts
Warnings from Apple Computer
(
AAPL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
Advanced Micro Devices
(
AMD |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Ciena
(
CIEN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), as well as another
suicide attack triggered a broad market sell-off. Early on, the
markets seemed to be shrugging off the news, but that didn’t last too long. Tech
issues took the biggest blow, as the Naz dropped almost 3% to close below 1500.
Chip
(
$SOX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and computer hardware
(
$BMX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) issues stocks dropped
6.73% and 5.12% respectively. Not even positive news from a semiconductor trade organization
could helped chip stocks. Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International
reported that the book-to-bill ratio came in at 1.26. This was the second
straight month of gains. The only strong performers of the day were defense
(
$DFI.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
transportation
(
$TRAN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), health care
(
$HMO.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), and homebuilders. For more information on today’s action, please refer to
the market
recap.
The VIX
(
$VIX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gapped up, opened
near its lows, and closed near the highs of
the day. This shift
in intraday sentiment shows an increase in fear. No CVR signals were triggered
today. The VXN
(
$VXN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) also gapped up, opened near its lows, and closed
just underneath its open. This shift in intraday sentiment also shows a small
decrease in fear. The VXN didn’t trigger any signals either.
Points of Significance:
Nvidia
(
NVDA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) dropped over 15% on
double its average volume. The shares were hammered along with other computer
hardware stocks. Prudential also lowered their fiscal 2003 and 2003 earnings
estimates due to a soft PC environment. Shares of Nvidia are closing in on their
September lows.
Micron Technology
(
MU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
dropped almost 15% on heavy volume. The company received a subpoena
seeking information on alleged anticompetitive practices among DRAM
makers.
Verizon Communications
(
VZ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) fell 6% on
heavy volume. The shares are building a head-and-shoulders top.
| Volatility Index |
Close | Net Change |
Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average |
Significance |
| VIX | 29.71 | UP 2.38 |
NONE | 6.87 % Above |
Not At Extreme |
| VXN | 55.24 | UP 0.69 |
NONE | 3.21 % 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 |
| Nvidia | NVDA | – 15.66 |
18896 | 3508 |
| Apple Computer |
AAPL | – 15.03 |
1500 | 595 |
| Micron Technology |
MU | – 14.91 |
15655 | 4637 |
| Integrated Device Tech. |
IDTI | -11.53 | 1251 | 190 |
| Intel Corp. |
INTC | – 8.76 |
54796 | 18424 |
| Verizon Communications |
VZ | – 6.10 |
28513 | 3354 |
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 |
| Reckson Associates |
RA | 24.6 | 18.4 | 31.9 | 16.4 |
| Meristar Hospitality |
MHX | 26.8 | 20.1 | 44.2 | 19.5 |
| Detroit Edison |
DTE | 26 | 20.5 | 23.00 | 14.7 |
| Adolph Coors |
RKY | 29.7 | 24.3 | 32.4 | 22.9 |
| Kroll | KROL | 63 | 53.7 | 74.5 | 40.7 |
| Nvidia | NVDA | 96.4 | 82.5 | 81.8 | 56.9 |
Spike Down
| Name | Symbol | IV | Previous IV |
High IV |
Low IV |
| Gtech Holdings |
GTK | 41.7 | 53.3 | 39.6 | 29.6 |
| Belo | BLC | 25.1 | 28.5 | 37.7 | 29.7 |
| Dreyers Grand Ice Cream |
DRYR | 29 | 32.4 | 33.8 | 31.6 |
| Banco Bilbao |
BBV | 25.2 | 27.8 | 65.8 | 21.9 |
| New York Times |
NYT | 18.9 | 20.7 | 31.3 | 19.1 |
Please use stops on every trade!