From the IB options desk:
XLE – Energy Select Sector SPDR – Investors were observed making bullish plays on the energy ETF today amid a modest share price rally of less than 1% to $48.17. The August 49 strike price had more than 10,000 calls purchased for an average premium of 2.09 per contract. Traders long of the calls are hoping to see shares of the XLE increase 6% to breach the breakeven point at $51.09 by expiration. Elsewhere, investors shed 10,000 puts at the January 2010 45 strike price for 3.65 apiece. It would seem that the put-sellers expect shares of the energy fund to remain higher than $45.00 at the start of 2010. The full premium received today for writing the puts is retained as long as the puts land out-of-the-money by expiration. Investors short the contracts bear the risk of having shares put to them at an effective price of $41.35.
Mr. Roche is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Discipline Funds.Discipline Funds is a low fee financial advisory firm with a focus on helping people be more disciplined with their finances.
He is also the author of Pragmatic Capitalism: What Every Investor Needs to Understand About Money and Finance, Understanding the Modern Monetary System and Understanding Modern Portfolio Construction.
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