Sunday, March 18, 2012

News and Expert Analysis from optionMonster

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What put surge means for materials fund

The SPDR Materials Fund has been pushing back toward the resistance levels from the last six weeks, but put buying tops its option activity today.

Group One's Jamie Tyrrell is seeing heavy activity in the VIX 17 puts, indicating that traders don't see the volatility index falling much below that level even though the market is up again today.

The construction company has been surging after it touched a 2-1/2 year low last year and following a strong earnings release in December.

The gold miner's stock has been falling sharply for more than a month, but today one trader is looking for a floor beneath the shares.

Nearing the halfway mark in today's session, here are the individual equity names with the most call and put buying on optionMONSTER's ActionTracker data system.

Total option volume remains strong with 6.8 million contracts already traded today, and calls are again strong in the indexes and ETFs, optionMONSTER's data systems show.

The iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund collapsed to support this week, and today's option activity is dominated by a large put trade.

The electronics retailer is holding yesterday's impressive gains but remains in the range that has been in place for all of this year.

Yesterday may have been the day that retail showed its true colors, when we discovered that $4 gasoline does matter.

The Chinese videogame developer beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines; Frontline climbs on bullish commentary; Cogo more than doubles on CEO plans.

European markets are gaining for the fifth day in a row as worries over the Greek debt situtation subside. Asian indexes close mixed.

The highly leveraged and heavily shorted commercial real-estate lender has been trading sideways since late January, when it reported better-than-expected earnings as bad loans declined.

Some chart watchers may see evidence that the Canadian miner remains in a bullish trend, and they could be looking for its next move to be higher.

The SPDR Consumer Discretionary Fund drew a large put ratio spread yesterday even as the ETF hit new all-time highs.

The pharmaceutical company missed forecasts in its last earnings report but continues to enjoy rapid growth for its Xiaflex treatment of a rare hand disease.

One investor has seen premiums double but, instead of taking profits, is raising the stakes even higher to reap more gains on the financial name.

Chris McKhann analyzes a large put backspread in the pharmacy-services company, which appears to be an example of serious tail-risk hedging.

Today's economic calendar will focus on the inflation data, consumer sentiment, and industrial production.

The CBOE Volatility Index surged at yesterday's close to finish the day up 0.72 percent at 15.42, taking a chunk out of the premium in the VIX futures.

The SPX reclaimed the elusive 1400 level with conviction, finishing yesterday at 1402.60. The Russell 2000 recouped Wednesday's losses, and the Nasdaq 100 gained even though Apple fell.

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