McDonald's disappoints strangle speculator with Q2 results

Revenue for the period dwindled 7% to $5.65 billion; adjusted on a constant-currency basis, revenue actually rose 4%. Global same-store sales growth for June checked in at 2.6%, well below consensus forecasts for an increase of 4.8%.

The results were mixed, since analysts were calling for a profit of 97 cents per share on $5.72 billion in sales. However, the burger baron added that it remains confident in its full-year outlook, and said it expects to see relief from lower ingredient costs during the second half of the year.

MCD is off more than 3% following the report, but today's drop simply extends a recent trend of technical weakness for the shares. While the broader Dow Jones Industrial Average has added about 2.5% in 2009, the fast-food chain has fared worse -- MCD is down 5.4% year-to-date. Plus, the equity's formerly supportive 10-month and 20-month moving averages recently completed a bearish cross, confirming a breakdown of MCD's long-term uptrend.

Meanwhile, at least one option player is rooting for MCD to extend its post-earnings slide. On Wednesday, two blocks of 768 contracts apiece changed hands on MCD's August 57.50 put and August 60 call. Each transaction occurred at the ask price, suggesting that all contracts involved were bought. At the time the trade was opened, MCD was trading squarely between the two strikes at $58.87.

In other words, this looks like a pre-earnings strangle strategy, wherein the investor is seeking to benefit from a sharp move either higher or lower from the underlying equity. The position was opened for a total debit of $1.75, placing breakeven on the downside at $55.75 (the put strike of 57.50 minus the net debit of $1.75). With MCD's intraday low currently docked at $56.31, this trade has yet to start making money.

Elizabeth Harrow is an analyst and financial writer in the research department at Schaeffer's Investment Research. She is featured in the video series Schaeffer's Daily Q&A on SchaeffersResearch.com.