Thursday’s Options Alerts…
Stocks ended mixed today as the Dow
(
$INDU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
rallied back above the 10K mark, while the Nasdaq
(
$COMPQ |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) slipped back
below 2,000. Stocks were weak early on as Alcoa
(
AA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and Motorola
(
MOT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
both gave profit warnings. However, the bad news was soon overshadowed by the
better-than-expected index of leading economic indicators number, which rose by
0.5 percent in November. The VIX
(
$VIX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) opened near the highs of the day and closed
slightly below the half-way mark. Once again
this intra-day shift in sentiment
suggests that fear is still decreasing. The VIX did not trigger any CVR signals
today, however it is in oversold levels which means that the market is getting
overbought. Also, the VIX reading is very low; this could mean that we are
approaching some type of top. The VXN
(
$VXN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) exhibited the same action,
as it too opened at near its high and closed near it half-way point. This intra-day shift in sentiment is also telling us that fear is
decreasing. The VXN did not trigger any CVR signals either.
Points of Significance:
Mirant
(
MIR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) jumped over 15% on three times
its average trading volume. Mirant is scheduled to have a conference call
tomorrow to discuss how the current market conditions will impact its earnings.
SanDisk
(
SNDK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) dropped 15% today on four times its average trading volume. The company
announced that it will issue a $100 million convertible note offering. SanDisk
did fall through its .382 retracement level from its September low. There is heavy activity in the December
15 puts. Despite weakness in the telecommunications sector, Sirius Satellite
Radio
(
SIRI |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) jumped 15% on almost four times its average trading
volume, as analysts are reporting strong demand for satellite radio services. The stock
has now retraced over 50% of its move from the May 17 high. Its options traded
over four times its average trading volume today. There is heavy volume in the
December 10, January 10, and January 12.50 calls.
| Volatility Index |
Close | Net Change |
Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average |
Significance |
| VIX | 23.57 | DOWN 0.59 | NONE | 6.84 % Below | Not At Extreme |
| VXN | 49.68 | DOWN 0.63 |
NONE | 1.47 % 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 |
| Mirant | MIR | + 15.61 | 4174 | 1645 |
| SanDisk | SNDK | – 15.25 | 5867 | 1321 |
| Sirius Satellite Radio | SIRI | + 15.00 | 2772 | 647 |
| Triquint Semiconductor | TQNT | – 14.89 | 5059 | 2326 |
| Anadigics Inc. | ANAD | – 12.35 | 431 | 202 |
| Williams Cos. | WMB | + 11.76 | 11463 | 5086 |
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 |
| Felcor Lodging | FCH | 45.2 | 31.7 | 59.4 | 21.7 |
| MeriStar Hospitality | MHX | 44.5 | 31.9 | 60.5 | 20.8 |
| ImClone Systems | IMCL | 74.3 | 58.2 | 86.6 | 45 |
| Aquila Inc. | ILA | 63.1 | 50.4 | 48.1 | 39.6 |
| Cali Realty | CLI | 27.7 | 23.4 | 28.2 | 18.8 |
| Ascential Software | ASCL | 87 | 76.1 | 68.1 | 65.1 |
Spike Down
| Name | Symbol | IV | Previous IV |
High IV |
Low IV |
| Price Communications | PR | 35.7 | 54.9 | 59 | 24.7 |
| Williamette Industries |
WLL | 40.7 | 56.1 | 49 | 19.3 |
| Bristol Meyers Squibb |
BMY | 47.5 | 58.4 | 49.9 | 25.3 |
| DPL Inc. | DPL | 23 | 27.3 | 27.9 | 25.8 |
| Calpine | CPN | 95.9 | 113 | 119.5 | 53.3 |
| Nisource | SOI | 28.2 | 33.2 | 34.6 | 28.4 |
Please use stops on every trade!