Wednesday’s Options Alerts
Stocks once again ended the
day lower as the credibility of corporate accounting practices was still fresh
on investor’s minds. Ciena’s earnings warning and worse than-expected-earnings
from Sprint PCS also put pressure on stocks. Even General Electric’s positive
reaffirmation of its 2002 targets did not help the market.
For more information
on today’s action, please
refer to the market
recap. The VIX
(
$VIX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) opened and closed near the midpoint of
today’s range. Since the VIX closed above its open, this shift in intra-day sentiment
suggests that fear is still increasing. We have another CVR
III buy signal today, and we are close to a CVR II buy signal. The VXN
(
$VXN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
again showed similar action as the VIX. This intraday shift in sentiment
also suggests that fear is increasing. The VXN did not trigger any CVR
signals. Fear is continuing to increase as investors question the integrity
of corporate earnings.
Points of Significance:
Syncor International
(
SCOR |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) lost over 10% on over
four times its average volume. Although no news was announced, the stock did
take out some important levels of support. Check out the weekly chart. There is also heavy activity in the
front month at-the-money calls.
ViroPharma
(
VPHM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gained seven percent on
over three times its average volume. The shares are in a strong downtrend and
are trying to come out of what could be a potential false rally from lows. No
news was announced today, however the pharmaceutical company is working on
a drug to combat the common cold. There is heavy activity in the March 22.50
calls and March 17.50 puts.
Despite given a “market outperform”
rating by Goldman Sachs for its business model and leadership position, Overture
Services
(
OVER |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) dropped almost seven percent today on average volume. The
shares gapped below their .618 retracement level from the October lows. There is very heavy activity in the
February 30 calls.
| Volatility Index |
Close | Net Change |
Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average |
Significance |
| VIX | 26.77 | DOWN 0.08 |
CVR III Buy |
11.26 % Above |
At Extreme |
| VXN | 46.74 | UP 0.89 |
NONE | 3.2 % 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 |
| Syncor International |
SCOR | – 10.82 | 863 | 129 |
| Accredo Health |
ACDO | + 7.25 |
378 | 138 |
| ViroPharma Inc. |
VPHM | + 7.10 | 5687 | 331 |
| Overture Services |
OVER | – 6.83 |
3583 | 1021 |
| Sherwin Williams |
SHW | – 6.40 | 2586 | 256 |
| Allergan | AGN | + 5.24 |
2573 | 856 |
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 |
| Tyco International |
TYC | 150 | 108.1 | 82 | 28.7 |
| Amdocs Limited |
DOX | 59.4 | 49.1 | 75 | 49.2 |
| Microtune Inc. | TUNE | 120.4 | 100.8 | 114.5 | 78.4 |
| Miller Herman |
MLHR | 37.4 | 31.5 | 45.5 | 30.4 |
| Williams Cos. | WMB | 88.4 | 76.8 | 67.6 | 36.2 |
| Metro One Telecom. |
MTON | 87.3 | 76.1 | 96.9 | 65.9 |
Spike Down
| Name | Symbol | IV | Previous IV |
High IV |
Low IV |
| South Trust | SOTR | 22.8 | 28.4 | 39.9 | 25 |
| Biomarin Pharmaceuticals |
BMRN | 65.9 | 81.9 | 75.6 | 65.5 |
| National Commerce Financial |
NCF | 24.4 | 30 | 32.3 | 26.4 |
| UNUM Corp. |
UNM | 25.8 | 31.3 | 46.3 | 29.7 |
| Expedia Inc. | EXPE | 40.7 | 48.4 | 100.2 | 44.7 |
| Penn National Gaming |
PENN | 55.3 | 65.5 | 68 | 51.5 |
Please use stops on every trade!