Wednesday’s Options Alerts
Telecoms took their toll on the market: Negative news from Worldcom
(
WCOM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating),
Nokia
(
NOK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating), and Lucent
(
LU |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) knocked stocks lower. Also Goldman Sach’s
announcement that Microsoft
(
MSFT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) might lower guidance contributed to
the weakness in the techs.Â
The Nasdaq and S&P 500 ended the day modestly
lower, though off their lows. On the other hand, the Dow showed great resiliency
and ended slightly higher, helped by IBM. Investors are leaving tech stocks for
safer heavy industrial stocks. For more information on today’s action, please refer to
the market
recap.
The VIX
(
$VIX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gapped up and
opened near
its highs and closed on its lows. This shift in intraday sentiment suggest
that fear is dropping. No CVR signals were triggered today. The VIX is once
again at its summer lows. The VXN
(
$VXN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gapped up, opened near the top
third of its range, and
closed near its low. This intraday shift in sentiment also suggests fear is
dropping. No CVR signals were triggered by the VXN either. Even with the bad
news in the Telecom sector with lower capital spending, there is still no fear
in this market.
Points of Significance:
Appliance maker Maytag
(
MYG |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
jumped over 11% on seven times its average volume. The shares gapped out of a
flag pattern today as the company upped its first-quarter 2002 forecasts. There
is heavy activity in the April 45 calls.
Invision Technologies
(
INVN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
gained 7% on heavy volume. The shares are breaking out of a cup and handle and
are at a new 52 week high.
Earthlink
(
ELNK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) jumped over 9% on
triple its average volume. Earthlink announced today that they have signed an
agreement with AT&T Broadband to provide high-speed Internet service. There
is heavy activity in the April 10 calls.
| Volatility Index |
Close | Net Change |
Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average |
Significance |
| VIX | 21.31 | DOWN 1.06 |
NONE | 3.78% Below | Not at Extreme |
| VXN | 42.05 | UP 0.43 |
NONE | 0 % 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 |
| Maytag | MYG | + 11.38 |
3707 | 638 |
| Cabot Microelectronics |
CCMP | – 11.29 |
8173 | 1731 |
| Americredit | ACF | + 9.92 |
12121 | 5638 |
| Earthlink. | ELNK | + 9.18 |
9984 | 643 |
| InVision Technologies |
INVN | + 7.21 |
8629 | 3413 |
| ViroPharma | VPHM | + 4.76 |
4032 | 1273 |
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 |
| Performance Food Group |
PFGC | 50.2 | 38 | 65.6 | 37.7 |
| Maytag | MYG | 38.6 | 33.2 | 42 | 30.9 |
| RPM Inc. |
RPM | 39.4 | 34.5 | 46.5 | 33 |
| Four Seasons Hotels |
FS | 41.4 | 36.3 | 52.3 | 34.1 |
| Travelocity.com | TVLY | 22.1 | 19.6 | 116.4 | 17.6 |
| Earthlink | ELNK | 74 | 66.6 | 76.1 | 57.2 |
Spike Down
| Name | Symbol | IV | Previous IV |
High IV |
Low IV |
| Expedia Inc. |
EXPE | 76 | 96.1 | 100.2 | 44.7 |
| Prepaid Legal |
PPD | 82.4 | 96.2 | 405.7 | 66.1 |
| Int’l Business Machines |
IBM | 31.4 | 35.9 | 50.8 | 28.1 |
| Pier One Imports |
PIR | 47 | 52.9 | 64.4 | 49 |
| Sepracor | SEPR | 87.2 | 97.8 | 77.5 | 57.8 |
| CMS Energy |
CMS | 30.6 | 33.6 | 47.7 | 26.3 |
Please use stops on every trade!