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WFR logoMEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE: WFR) shares are falling today after the company reported a first-quarter profit of $193.9 million, or 84 cents per share, missing analysts' estimates of 85 cents per share. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on WFR.

After hitting a one-year low of $49.70 in August, the stock hit a one-year high of $96.08 in December. This morning, WFR opened at $73.40. So far today the stock has hit a low of $70.07 and a high of $73.65. As of 12:35, WFR is trading at $70.42, down $4.93 (-6.5%). The chart for WFR looks bearish and steady, while S&P gives the stock its highest 5 Stars (out of 5) Strong Buy rating.

For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a May bear-call credit spread above the $80 range. A bear-call credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of call options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we will make a 7.5% return in three weeks as long as WFR is below $80 at May expiration. MEMC would have to rise by more than 13% before we would start to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.

WFR hasn't been above $80 in the past month and has shown resistance around $77 recently. This trade could be risky if the demand for solar materials spikes in the next few weeks, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by resistance WFR has demonstrated over the past month at its 50 day moving average, which is currently around $78.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.

DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in WFR.

MEMC Electronic Materials (WFR) tumbles on earnings miss originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 25 Apr 2008 15:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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