Midday Unusual Options Activity Update – OSIR, WFR, MU, PALM, MA, ETFC, S, AGX, XLI, MA, UNP, FRX

Midday Unusual Options Activity Update - OSIR, WFR, MU, PALM, MA, ETFC, S, AGX, XLI, MA, UNP, FRX

Posted November 3rd, 2009 by Joseph Cusick in Unusual Activity

Implied Volatility Movers

Osiris Therapeutics (OSIR) implied volatility is elevated heading into earnings, tomorrow morning. Shares are down 50 cents to $5.55 and hit a new 52-week low. Options volume is 4X the average daily. Implied volatility is moving above 160, from about 136 late Monday.

Implied volatility is also higher in MEMC (WFR), Micron Tech (MU), and PALM. Meanwhile, implied volatility is lower in MasterCard (MA), Etrade (ETFC), and Sprint Nextel (S).

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Unusual Volume

Barrick Gold (AGX) options volume is running 2X the usual. 88,000 contracts traded and call volume accounts for 72 percent of today's volume.

Options activity in MEMC (WFR) rose to 4X the usual, with 42,000 traded and call volume representing about 88 percent of the activity.

SPDR Industrials (XLI) options activity is running 4X the usual. 42,000 contracts traded and call volume accounting for about 95 percent of the activity.

Increasing volume was also seen in MasterCard (MA), Union Pacific (UNP), and Forest Labs (FRX).

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About Joseph Cusick

Joseph Cusick currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Education and a Senior Market Analyst for optionsXpress. Mr. Cusick seeks out common sense and technologically scalable educational pathways for self-directed investors of all experience levels. He is largely responsible for ramping up delivery of online and offline seminars to customers and potential clients worldwide. Prior to serving in his current role, Mr. Cusick immersed himself in the broker side of optionsXpress by managing his own book of business. Prior to joining optionsXpress, Mr. Cusick served as a market maker and portfolio manager at the Chicago Board of Options Exchange. Joseph is a graduate of Marquette University and holds his Series 4, 7 and 63 registrations with FINRA.

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