Today’s tickers: XLY, REGN, WM & CMC
XLY - Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund – Bears are hoarding put options on the Consumer Discretionary SPDR Fund following the release of dismal employment figures ahead of the open this morning. We noted growing interest in XLY puts on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, which suggested traders were hungry for varying degrees of protective or bearish positions on the sector. Shares in the XLY, an exchange-traded fund that tracks the performance of the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector of the S&P 500 Index, are down 1.9% in early-afternoon trade to stand at $36.42. The fund’s shares have fallen roughly 13.0% since hitting a 52-week high of $41.78 in the first full trading week of July. The sizable positions initiated in XLY puts earlier in the week, pale in comparison to the large bearish prints in the options today. It looks like one or more investors purchased some 34,750 puts at the October $30 strike for an average premium of $0.41 apiece. Put buyers profit if shares in the XLY plunge 18.75% from the current price of $36.42 to breach the average breakeven point on the downside at $29.59 by expiration day next month. Much of the 17,564 puts represented in open interest at the October $30 strike were purchased Tuesday for an average premium of $0.36 each. Traders long the put options may see the value of their positions appreciate if the price of the underlying fund continues to push lower in the next seven weeks to October expiration day.
REGN - Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. – Demand for Regeneron calls jumped after the New York Times reported five more patients using Roche’s cancer drug Avastin to treat eye diseases were blinded. Shares in the biotechnology company Regeneron, which is seeking FDA approval…
