Options update 10-19-07: HAL, CLF options active with elevated volatility

Posted Oct 19th 2007 12:57PM by Paul Foster
Filed under: Halliburton (HAL), Options

Halliburton (NYSE: HAL), an oil services firm, is recently down $2.07 to $38.96. HAL will report EPS on 10/22. Capital One Southcoast says, "Expect HAL to focus on Middle East/Asia growth opportunities and reiterate that it can still get incremental margins in N America even with flat-to-declining pricing." HAL call option volume of 16,907 contracts compares to put volume of 11,746 contracts. HAL November option implied volatility of 35 is above 26-week average of 29 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

Cleveland Cliffs (NYSE: CLF), a producer of iron ore pellets, is recently up $2.79 to $101.83 on renewed & unconfirmed buyout chatter. CLF has a market cap of $4 billion. CLF call option volume of 4,216 contracts compares to put volume of 879 contracts. CLF November option implied volatility of 47 is above its 26-week average of 41 according to Track Data, indicating traders positioning themselves for a higher share price.

Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

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