Wednesday’s Options Alerts
The markets were hit
sharply today as a warning from Williams Company
(
WMB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) and a negative
earnings report from ChevronTexaco
(
CVX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) dragged the markets down across
the board. For more information
on today’s action, please
refer to the market
recap. The VIX
(
$VIX.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) opened near the lows and closed near highs of the day. This shiat-tft in intra-day sentiment suggests
that fear is returning in a big way. Today’s action trigged a CVR
II sell signal. The VXN
(
$VXN.X |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
opened near its low and closed near its highs. This shift in intra-day
sentiment also suggests that fear is increasing. The VXN also triggered a CVR
II sell signal. Both volatility indices came off their summer lows in
tremendous fashion. Fear has come back to the markets as investors are worrying
about the possibility of another Enron.
Points of Significance:
Williams Cos.
(
WMB |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) dropped over 20% on six times its average volume. The company
warned that its 2001 earnings will be well below estimates due to its credit
exposure to Enron
(
ENE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating). Shares of Williams are in a steep downtrend and are
at a two and a half year low. There is heavy activity in most of the front month
at-the-money calls and puts.
Argosy Gaming
(
AGY |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gained over seven
percent today on triple its average volume. The company reported a 69% increase in
fourth quarter earnings, compared to the same period a year ago. The
company also said that they were comfortable with first quarter estimates of 79
to 83 cents per share, as well as full-year 2002 earnings of $3.10 to $3.25. The
shares are trying to rally out of a deep pullback. There is heavy activity in
the March 30 puts.
Filenet
(
FILE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) gapped up and jumped over 14%
on five times its average volume. After reporting earnings that beat the
estimates on Monday, the stock was boosted higher today after the company raised
guidance for its first quarter and full-year 2002 earnings. CEO Lee Roberts was
quite optimistic as he told analysts that “We are positioned for faster
growth than we have seen historically” and that “We’ve seen the return
of larger deals.” The stock has not been at this level since last
February. FILE is also breaking out of a weekly cup and handle.
| Volatility Index |
Close | Net Change |
Signals/Direction | % Above/Below 10 Day Moving Average |
Significance |
| VIX | 26.26 | UP 4.48 |
CVR II SELL |
9.78 % Below |
Near Extreme |
| VXN | 45.90 | UP 2.84 |
CVR II SELL |
3.14 % 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 |
| Williams Cos. | WMB | – 22.20 | 17390 | 2800 |
| Tyco Int’l |
TYC | – 19.88 |
231912 | 60620 |
| Filenet | FILE | + 14.66 | 229 | 114 |
| Expedia Inc. |
EXPE | + 10.04 |
5612 | 1779 |
| Argosy Gaming | AGY | + 7.82 | 1318 | 323 |
| Automatic Data Process. |
ADP | – 7.51 |
1540 | 673 |
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 Int’l | TYC | 108.4 | 58.7 | 53.3 | 28.7 |
| Cendant | CD | 57.1 | 36.1 | 73.4 | 34.9 |
| Williams Cos. | WMB | 68.8 | 43.7 | 67.6 | 36.2 |
| Triton PCS |
TPC | 69.5 | 49.2 | 62.3 | 39.7 |
| TECO Energy | TE | 28.5 | 20.6 | 31.1 | 21.9 |
| Bank of America |
BAC | 33.3 | 25.3 | 48.8 | 27.8 |
Spike Down
| Name | Symbol | IV | Previous IV |
High IV |
Low IV |
| ServiceMaster | SVM | 21.9 | 26.7 | 33.8 | 22.6 |
| Ameren Corp. |
AEE | 19.5 | 23.6 | 26.7 | 18.2 |
| Duke Realty | DRE | 18.9 | 22.8 | 30.4 | 19.2 |
| Anthracite Capital |
AHR | 34.6 | 40.8 | 41.1 | 27.8 |
| Citizens Communications |
CZN | 39.5 | 46.2 | 56.3 | 40.7 |
| Expedia Inc. |
EXPE | 43.1 | 50 | 100.2 | 49.7 |
Please use stops on every trade!