Hartford Financial (NYSE: HIG) closed at $62.06 Thursday. HIG October option implied volatility of 52 is above its 26-week average of 40 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Travelers (NYSE: TRV), a leading property casualty insurer, closed at $44.61 Thursday. TRV October option implied volatility of 37 is above its 26-week average of 32 according to Track Data, indicating larger price movement.

Genworth Financial (NYSE: GNW) closed at $15.02 Thursday. GNW October option implied volatility of 71 is above its 26-week average of 52 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

XL Capital (NYSE: XL), provider of global reinsurance coverage, closed at $18.63 Thursday. XL October option implied volatility of 78 is above its 26-week average of 73 according to Track Data, suggesting larger movement.

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

Option Update: Insurers' volatilities elevated; HIG, TRV, GNW, XL originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 12 Sep 2008 08:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I am not sure that Fannie Mae (NYSE: FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE) will make it through the month as public companies. Barron's quoted an anonymous senior official -- who sounds an awful lot like Hank Paulson to me -- that unless Fannie and Freddie could raise at least $10 billion each, the government would bail them out while wiping out common shareholders and eliminating the preferred dividend. Since then, investors have been dumping shares of Fannie and Freddie like there's no tomorrow.

Who wins and who loses if Fannie and Freddie's shareholders are wiped out? As I said on CNBC's Power Lunch this afternoon, the winners are investors who shorted Fannie and Freddie years ago and are now reaping enormous profits. I also think that some Wall Street investment banks will win big as they get the job of selling off Fannie and Freddie's pieces. The losers are their biggest common and preferred shareholders -- including some well known mutual funds.

The winners are:

• Jim Rogers, Rogers Holdings - Rogers originally shorted Freddie and Fannie in March 2006 and appeared on Bloomberg on November 20, 2007 to discuss why he did it and where he thought their stocks would go.
• Doug Noland, Prudent Bear - As I posted, since the late 1990s, Noland's research has concluded that Freddie and Fannie would "shudder" when the US credit bubble eventually burst. Noland has profited from the short bets he made -- but he says it is emotionally painful to watch them fail.

Continue reading Fannie/Freddie Flameout: Winners and Losers

Fannie/Freddie Flameout: Winners and Losers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Countrywide Financial Corp. (NYSE: CFC) -- implied volatility decreases after Federal Reserve rate cut. CFC, a U.S. home mortgage lender, closed at $19.88. Bank of America says, "We're sticking with our Buy on CFC given several competitive advantages which should help over the long-term." CFC September straddle is priced at $1.25. CFC October option implied volatility of 65 is near its 26-week average of 64 according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional risks.

Genworth Financial Inc. (NYSE: GNW) -- elevated volatility decreases after rate cut. GNW is a financial security company meeting the retirement, longevity and lifestyle protection, investment and mortgage insurance needs of 15 million customers. GNW closed at $30.45. GNW over all option implied volatility of 31 is above its 26-week average of 28 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

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

Option update: Countrywide volatility down as liquidity improves originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Sep 2007 11:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Option update: Financial sector volatility increases on credit quality originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 03 Aug 2007 17:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.