Barnes & Noble (BKS) April put option volatility is at 64, July is at 61, above its 26-week average of 49, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is up 20% to an eight-month high; S&P 500 closed down 1.87%.

Volatility Monitor: CBOE DJ Industrial Average Index (DJX) is up 3.2% to 21.8.

NASDAQ (NDX) is up 3.4% to 26.7; S&P 100 Index (OEX) is up 3.3% to 23.7, according to IVolatility.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Options Update: Barnes & Noble Volatility Elevated, Shares at Historic Lows originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 17 Mar 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund (EWJ) closed down 0.2% after selling off 11% in early morning trading on Japan radiation leak concerns. April put option implied volatility of 44 is above its six-month average of 21, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

CBOE Volatility Index-VIX is up 15.1% to 24.32 on 662,000 call contracts, 319,000 puts.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Options Update: iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund Volatility Spikes on Wide Price Movement originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 16 Mar 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Chesapeake Energy (CHK) announced it has agreed to sell approximately 487,000 net acres of leasehold and producing natural gas properties in the Fayetteville Shale play to BHP Billiton (BHP) for $4.75 billion in cash before certain deductions and standard closing adjustments. Chesapeake Energy overall option implied volatility of 34 is near its 26-week average, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) was up 27% to 20.94.

Options Update is by stock specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Options Update: Chesapeake Volatility Flat into Sale of Shale Assets to BHP Billiton for $4.75B originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) rises 24% to 20.03 on antigovernment protests in Egypt.

United States Oil Fund (USO) closed up 4.3% as WTI Crude futures have traded up 4.37% to $89.38, according to Bloomberg. Traders were focused on short-term February 38 calls. February put option implied volatility of 29 is below its 26-week average of 31 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

Option volume leaders are Apple (AAPL), Citigroup (C), Amazon.com (AMZN) and Netflix (NFLX), according to Track Data.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Options Update: VIX Rises 24% on Antigovernment Protests in Egypt originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

eBay (EBAY) January 29 and 30 puts are active on flat volatility with total call volume of 37K contracts compared to 103K puts, according to Track Data. The increase in trading of the January 29 and 30 puts suggest traders anticipate movement into its Q4 January 19 EPS report.

BMO Financial Group (BMO) announced that it will acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of Marshall & Ilsley (MI) in a stock-for-stock transaction. Under the terms of the agreement, each outstanding share of M&I will be exchanged for 0.1257 shares of Bank of Montreal upon closing. BMO Financial Group overall option implied volatility of 21 is below its 26-week average of 27, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) traded down 10% to at intra-day low of 15.46, an eight-month low.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Options Update: eBay Traders Initiate Large January Put Position as Shares Near 30-Month High originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 18 Dec 2010 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Massey Energy (MEE) closed up $4.80 to $46.94 on reports that Alpha Natural (ANR) may buy the company, DJ says. December and January 55 calls are active on total call volume of 58K contracts, compared to put volume of 23K puts. November call option implied volatility is at 53 and January is at 48, compared to its 26-week average of 52. Increasing option volume suggests traders are positioning for price movement.

CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) closed down 29 cents to $18.23, near a six-month low after EPS, elections, FOMC meeting and October employment report.

CBOE option volume leaders today: Bank of America (BAC), Las Vegas Sands (LVS) JPMorgan (JPM) and Citigroup (C).

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Options Update: Massey Energy Calls Active on Reports of Buyout originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 06 Nov 2010 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Options Update: EOG Resources and Southwestern Energy Volatility Elevated originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Campbell Soup (CPB) is expected to report Q3 EPS on May 24. June put option implied volatility is at 26, August at 25, November is at 26, above its 26-week average of 20, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

MSCI Spain Index ETF (EWP) closed at $34.30. The IBEX 35 Index is recently down 2.29%. EWP overall option implied volatility of 49 is above its 26-week average of 31, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is at 35.31; 50-day is at 20.57.

Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Options Update: Campbell Soup Volatility Near Eight-Month Highs into EPS originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 20 May 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Honeywell (HON) closed at $45.27 after HON said, "The strong productivity actions taken last year are continuing to benefit the company, and along with improving economic conditions, we now expect our earnings to be near the high-end of our full-year guidance range of $2.20 - 2.40." The 2010 consensus EPS estimate is $2.40. April put option implied volatility is at 21, May and June is at 24, September is at 27; verses its 26-week average of 28 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing near-term price movement.

Three stocks with IV rise on March 31; Liberty Property Trust (LRY) +3%, Arena Pharma (ARNA) +7%, Garmin (GRMN) +5% according to IVolatility.

CBOE Volatility Index-VIX at 17.59; 10-day moving average is 17.28, 50-day is 20.53, 200-day moving average is 23.26.

Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Options Update: Honeywell April Volatility Low as Shares Trend Higher originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 01 Apr 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Kraft Foods (KFT) said it has agreed to acquire Cadbury (CBY) for 11.9 billion pounds or $19.5 billion. Kraft said it will pay 500 pence and 0.1874 of its own shares for every Cadbury share, or the equivalent of roughly 840 pence a share in total. In addition, Cadbury holders will receive a dividend of 10 pence a share. February call option implied volatility is at 35, March call volatility is at 31, versus its 26-week average of 26, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) at 17.90; 10-day moving average is 18.49.

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

Options Update: Cadbury PLC Volatility Elevated into $19.5B Acquisition by Kraft originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Clearwire (CLWR) a provider of 4G service called Clear, closed at $6.79. CLWR January option implied volatility is at 73, March at 68; near its 26-week average of 67 according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

CBOE Volatility Index-VIX at 22.51; 10-day moving average is 21.93.

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

Options Update: SPDR Gold Shares Volatility Flat on $1,122 Gold originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Today's technical outlook: No bottom in sight

Today's technical outlook: No bottom in sight originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 05 Mar 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Today's technical outlook: Where should you invest now?

Today's technical outlook: Where should you invest now? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The struggle between the bulls and bears continued on Friday with what appeared to be a victory for the bears. And, long-term, they do have the edge since there is little doubt that every major index is still pointing south.

Friday's close at 8,001 on the Dow surely got the bulls' attention, as 8,000 appears to have some psychological importance to the investing public. But it has little technical significance.

The support line that has held since November (with the exception of the bear trap of Nov. 20 and Nov. 21) is actually at around 7,940. And the numbers that most technicians refer to as "the" market's support is at the zone between S&P 500 800 and 820.

For guidance at crucial moments, I prefer to check out the most reliable internal and sentiment indicators.

Continue reading Today's technical outlook: Is the VIX signaling an end to the bear market?

Today's technical outlook: Is the VIX signaling an end to the bear market? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 02 Feb 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Stocks advanced for the fourth day for the best sustained performance this year, but as I read the after-market reports you would think that the apocalypse was just around the corner.

There were comments like "no evidence to support that view," referring to world banks' success in reviving economies.

Or how about, "The bottom line is, earnings are dwindling. And it's a lot worse than it looks, when you look year to year." Or, "Obviously the news background is favorable today, but this is just another rally in a bear market."

With all of the gloom and doom, here are a few facts to ponder:

Continue reading Today's technical outlook: Is this the start of a bull market?

Today's technical outlook: Is this the start of a bull market? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The major market indices indicate that a short-term rally is due.

Our internal indicators, chiefly the Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD) and momentum, are oversold, and the stochastic has issued a short-term buy signal.

Additionally the sentiment indicators, chiefly Investors Intelligence, the American Association of Individual Investors' (AAII) sentiment survey, which has been very bearish for three weeks, and the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), tell us that the public is bearish and insiders are bullish.

Even though the trading targets could be as close as Dow 8,500, they could also extend to the top of the three-month trading range at Dow 9,300. This may seem like just more of the same type of sideways trading that we've become used to, but it could also mean that a major market base has formed.

Continue reading Today's technical outlook: Time to go long?

Today's technical outlook: Time to go long? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 28 Jan 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

On Thursday, stocks fell 4.3% shortly after the opening, then rallied back to break-even on Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) earnings only to be crushed before the close on lousy earnings by Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT).

It's this kind of extreme volatility that sends money managers to Clancy's Bar, since it gives few hints as to the market's true direction.

Contrary signals are everywhere.

The bulls point to a tenacious support at S&P 500 (SPX) 800 to 820; an oversold stochastic, which almost gave a buy signal on Wednesday; grossly oversold internal indicators yesterday; and high fear numbers by the Association of American Investors (AAII) and others.

But the bears say that a breakdown is almost upon us and point to the higher CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), a foreboding series of charts, and a world banking crisis that seems to have no end.

So, what's an investor to do?

One of the first things that I did was to redraw the support line at S&P 820 to reflect the lows at 804 on Tuesday and Wednesday. This results in a broader major support zone at SPX 800 to 820. A break of that zone would probably result in an immediate test of the closing low of 752.

At 752, we could hold again by forming a double-bottom and a volatile sideways market for the rest of this year.

But if S&P 750 is crushed on high volume, look out below, since there is little support before 620-650.

Sam Collins is a contributor to OptionsZone.com.

Today's technical outlook: Redrawing S&P support line originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 23 Jan 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Bear markets can be tortuous, and this one has had an extreme measure of twists and turns. Yesterday, stocks closed higher erasing most of the losses of the previous day when sellers drove the market to a point where it seemed that a test of the November low was almost inevitable.

The significance of Wednesday's rally is two-fold.

First, it could signal a challenge to my analysis on Tuesday, which concluded that last Thursday's daily reversal (up) and then the lower low on Tuesday meant that we are still in a short-term downtrend.

Second, regardless of the chart signal, the support line at S&P 500 820 should probably be redrawn to reflect the lows of Dow 7,939 and 7,936 (Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively) as meaningful support, since a break of those lows would most certainly lead to a full test of the market's low.

So, yesterday's rally, as impressive as it was, is no more conclusive than Tuesday's decline, since it failed to break the high of Friday. Looking further into the chart is no help either, since the stochastic has yet to issue a buy signal despite being tantalizingly close to it, and the other internal indicators backed off, too.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), however, did fall by more than 10 points yesterday, and that is a significant and bullish move toward stability, and the other internal indicators are very oversold.

So, even though the balance is tipping to slightly favor the bulls, we'll have to be patient and let the market lead the way since volatility is very high. Anticipating a move in either direction could lead to a loss.

Sam Collins is a contributor to OptionsZone.com.

Today's technical outlook: What Wednesday's rally means originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Although they spent most of the day in the green the indexes gave up ground through most of the session to close just in the red.

The NYSE had volume of 3.6 billion shares with 1,612 shares advancing while 1,706 declined for a loss of 6.18 points to close at 9,428.86. On the NASDAQ, 2.2 billion shares traded, 1,426 advanced and 1,685 declined for a loss of -2.65 to 2,542.24.

EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) rose $1.33 (8%) to $19.05; ahead of it's subsidiary VMware making its debut on the NYSE tomorrow in an IPO that analysts are predicting will be big. EMC will retain 90% of the shares. This is likely the reason for the active calls as EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) saw heavy volume on the August 19 calls (EMCHT) with over 56,000 options trading.

Centex Corporation (NYSE: CTX) fell $2.78 (-7%) to $35.63. Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) fell $2.53 (-7%) to $32.92. Brinker International (NYSE: EAT) rose $1.82 (7%) to $28.98. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE: GT) rose $1.70 (6%) to $28.95.

In options there were 5.4 million puts and 5.8 million calls traded for a put/call open interest ratio of 0.92. The CBOE Volatility Index has been high closing today at 26.57. This is the fear indicator of the market. Not only is the index up, but options on the index are high with the CBOE S&P 500 Volatility Index (NASDAQ: $VIX) moving volume on the August 25 calls (VIXHE) with over 35,000 contracts.

Other stocks with active options include State Street Boston (NYSE: STT) saw heavy volume on the November 75 calls (STTKO) with over 60,000 options trading. Most of the active puts were on the indexes and the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE: IWM) had volume on the August 78 puts (IOWTZ) with over 86,000 options trading.

Kevin Kersten is an Options Analyst with InvestorsObserver.com. Disclosure note: Mr. Kersten owns and or controls a diversified portfolio of long and short positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about.

Monday Market Rap: EMC, LEN, GT, EAT, & CTX originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 13 Aug 2007 18:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.