WDC – Western Digital Corp. – The manufacturer of hard disk drives has enjoyed a 3% rally today to stand at $31.31. Near-term bullish bets were initiated by option traders expecting further gains in the stock. It appears that some investors established call spreads on WDC by purchasing 14,000 calls at the now in-the-money August 31 strike price for an average premium of 1.77 each, and simultaneously selling 14,000 calls at the higher August 35 strike for about 37 cents per contract. The net cost of the spreads amount to approximately 1.40 apiece. Call-spreaders will begin to realize profits on today’s transaction if WDC can climb 3.5% higher to the breakeven point at $32.40. Maximum profits of 2.60 would be attained by investors if the stock increases to $35.00 by expiration. Finally, plain-vanilla call buying was observed at the August 32 strike where some 3,200 calls were coveted for an average premium of 1.12 per contract. We note that the volume of more than 45,433 contracts seen on WDC today represents 45% of the total existing open interest on the stock of 101,598 lots.
XLF – Financial Select Sector SPDR – The financials ETF has climbed 1.5% higher to $12.61. Notable bullish action was observed at the December 13 strike price this afternoon where it seems some 35,000 calls were purchased for an average premium of 93 cents per contract. Shares of the XLF would need to rally 10% higher and surpass the breakeven point at $13.93 in order for traders to begin to amass profits by expiration at the conclusion of 2009.
EEM – iShares MSCI Emerging Markets Index – A mess of deep in-the-money put purchases were initiated on the emerging markets fund today amid a 0.5% increase in the price of the underlying shares to $35.60. The greatest volume was seen at the March 2010 38 strike price where about 7,400 puts were picked up for 5.70 apiece. The March 40 strike appears to have had 2,700 puts purchased for 7.00 each while the higher March 41 strike had 1,200 puts bought for 7.71 per contract. Put-buying continued at the March 42 strike price with 1,600 lots lifted for a premium 8.46 each. The higher March 43 strike had 2,300 puts purchased for 9.22 apiece while the March 44 strike had 1,000 puts coveted for a whopping 10.01 per contract.
RRI – RRI Energy, Inc. – Shares of the electric power provider have surrendered 2% today to arrive at $5.34. Despite the decline in the price of the stock, a massive chunk of calls was purchased in the near-term August contract. Approximately 15,500 call options were picked up at the in-the-money August 5.0 strike price for 69 cents apiece. Perhaps the investor responsible for the transaction expects RRI to recover, or at least remain higher than $5.00, by expiration next month. The stock must climb 35 cents from the current price in order for profits to begin to amass at the breakeven point of $5.69. Option implied volatility has jumped on RRI from 61.5% at the start of the trading day, up to the current reading of more than 77.5%.
