Volume Spike Investor

Apple hit all-time highs on Friday of $219.70 on an intraday basis and the stock closed at $218.95.  What is interesting is that traders are moving back into using the options as their way to get exposure to Apple ‘on the cheap.’

The stock traded over 32 million shares on Friday, which is close to 150% of normal trading volume.  The open interest was over 125,000 call option contracts which would have been another 12.5 million shares on a fully leveraged basis.  But if you look at yesterday’s call option trading activity alone it is far more.  These are the MARCH-2010 CALL strikes with volume and open interest, as well as with the last contract price:

CALL$    Volume    OpInt    LA$T
200.00    11,090    20,017    $19.35
210.00    33,169    40,865    $10.25
220.00    63,425    32,787    $3.75
230.00    49,538    20,731    $0.86
240.00    8,386    5,284    $0.23
250.00    2,442    6,571    $0.08

These March-2010 strike prices traded right about 168,000 contracts.  That comes to 16.8 million shares on a fully leveraged basis.   When it costs about $21,900.00 or so to buy 100 shares versus $375.00 to buy the right to buy at $220.00 for another two weeks as the stock is hitting all-time highs, you can see why traders and smaller investors are choosing to get exposure to the upside with speculative options rather than by buying the stock.

And yes, these too will expire as worthless if they are not ‘in-the-money.’

JON C. OGG

These are this morning’s top day trader and active trader alerts seen in early pre-market trading.  We have offered the moves, a news summary, and brief color on each for trading references where applicable.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is up 2.1% at $215.10 after saying the iPad will be available on April 3m, 2010 in the U.S. but not for about another month in most international markets.

InterMune, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITMN) is soaring on positive drug data.  The company said that the FDA panel will review its lung drug, but the FDA staff has said some questioning remarks as well.  This stock has been very volatile on mixed drug data in recent months and there has been a lot of options trading around this one. At 8:47 AM EST we have seen 2.4 million shares trade hands and the stock is up 83% at $26.74 after a $14.61 close and versus a prior 52-week trading range of $10.48 to $18.14.

Solarfun Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: SOLF) is trading lower after mixed results.  Its Q4 EPS was $0.25 vs. $0.24 estimates from Thomson Reuters; while revenue rose over 10% to $184 million versus $185 million expected.  Shares were down 3% at $7.30 on 131,000 shares as of 8:47 AM EST.

Conexant Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNXT) is down sharply after it priced a public secondary offering of 14 million shares of its common stock at a price of $4.00 per share versus a $4.39 close and versus a $0.33 to $5.17 trading range of the last year.  At 8:48 AM EST we have seen 1.25 million shares and the stock is down 5.7% at $4.14.

Zanett Inc. (NASDAQ: ZANE) saw exponential gains yesterday.  The company is seeing profit taking and a reality check today.  At 8:51 AM ESt we have shares down 16% at $1.77 on about 45,000 shares.  Average volume is now listed as about 150,000 shares but that is because the figures were skewed by 8 million shares as the stock rose from $0.31 to $2.12 and hitting a high of $2.50.

RCN Corp. (NASDAQ: RCNI) is soaring.  The regional cable TV and internet provider is up 27% at $15.60 after the company agreed to be acquired by ABRY Partners for about $1.2 billion.

TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO) is soaring again after yesterday’s gains.  Shares closed at $16.53 and shares are up 8% at $17.86 on about 1.6 million shares as of 8:53 AM EST.

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JON C. OGG

TiVo Inc. is soaring.  Not just by some but by a major amount.  The company announced just a few minutes ago that the U.S. Court of Appeals release a decision/ruling in the company’s lawsuit against EchoStar.  The company noted:

• “We are pleased that the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit fully affirmed the district court’s finding of contempt against EchoStar, including both the disablement and infringement provisions. Additionally, this ruling paves the way for TiVo to receive the approximately $300M in damages and contempt sanctions awarded to us for EchoStar’s continued infringement through July 1, 2009. We will also seek further damages and contempt sanctions for the period of continued infringement thereafter. We will continue our efforts to protect our intellectual property from further infringement.”

TiVo has seen its stock spike by about 50% to $15.40 and at 11:51 AM EST we have seen a whopping 25 million shares trade hands.  Average volume is 1.75 million and the stock appears to have hit new 52-week highs.

JON C. OGG

These are this morning’s top day trader and active trader alerts seen in early pre-market trading.  We have offered the moves, a news summary, and brief color on each for trading references where applicable.

Zumiez, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZUMZ) shares are surging as a winner in cold weather themes after it said February same-store sales rose by more than 11%.  Shares are indicated up almost 12% at $17.90 on only about 8,000 shares as of 8:30 AM EST.

China Armco Metals, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNAM) is surging to new highs this morning after it entered into a scrap steel supply contract with a major China Steel producer.  The deal is valued up to $100 million this year.  Its market cap was only about $53 million before the news-pop.   Shares closed at $5.30 yesterday and at 8:30 AM EST we have shares up 41% at $7.51 on 55,000 shares.  Average volume is only about 109,000 and the old 52-week range (3-month only) was $3.00 to $5.90.

Petsmart Inc. (NASDAQ: PETM) is hitting new 52-week highs after the pet retail destination beat earnings and gave a strong outlook.  The old 52-week trading range was $16.17 to $28.10 and the shares are up 10.6% at $30.65 on about 50,000 shares as of 8:31 AM EST.

Medivation, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDVN) has been trading all over the place this morning after yesterday’s biotech implosion on its failed Phase III Alzheimer’s study.  We had seen a gain of almost 2% earlier but shares are down about 0.2% more at $13.07 at 8:28 AM EST on about 138,000 shares.

Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSYS), a maker of alternative fuel components and systems, said Q4 earnings were $1.12 EPS vs. $0.98 expected; Revenue was $164 million vs. Thomson Reuters estimate of $158 million.  2010 guidance looks in-line to better as well.  Shares are up 5% at $29.69 on 75,000 shares as of 8:29 AM EST.

Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd. (NYSE: STP) is up after it beat earnings estimates: Q4 earnings were $0.27 EPS vs. $0.11 expected; Revenue rose almost 40% to $584 million vs. $470 million or so expected.  Shares are up 6% at $14.50 on 250,00 shares as of 8:29 AM EST.

Urban Outfitters Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN) is up after earnings rose by about 90% and after it exceeded analyst estimates; lower taxes helped, but it also had record sales and rising margins. Shares are up almost 5% at $34.99 on almost 30,000 shares as of 8:27 AM EST.

Ciena Corporation (NASDAQ: CIEN) is getting spanked on light earnings today after Q1 earnings fell short at -$0.12 EPS against Thomson Reuters estimates of -$0.06 EPS.  The telecom equipment player said revenue was up 5% to about $176 million, short of the $185+ million expected.  Shares are down 8.25% at $13.35 on almost 600,000 shares as of 8:28 AM EST.  Shares had been down under $13.00 earlier this morning.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

Chasing block trading volume of trades of more than 10,000 or 100,000 shares and higher on a single trade has become almost alchemy in the new world of online trading in equities.  Many funds and traders no longer have large block trades because via pools and exchanges they can get VWAP trades that generate the same trade result as a block and then it can be converted via the virtual weighted average price.  Seeing block trades of 750,000 shares has become quite rare.  But in Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG)??? Almost unheard of any longer.

At 15:28:02 today there was a trade of 750,000 shares of GOOG at $545.15 on the CSE rather than on NASDAQ.  The bid/ask at the time was approximately $545.20 / $545.53.  As with all actual trades, the actual trade time can differ from the reported trade time.  Many after-hours trades or pre-market trades are the evidence of that.  This one was close enough to the bid/ask spread that it was likely not too far off on the time.

But here is the issue.  Almost all trades listed on NASDAQ under GOOG are in 100 share lots to 500 share lots.  After all, 100 shares is $54,500 or so at that price.  The 750,000 share block was $408,862,500.00…..

Generally when you see trades this size, it is because someone wants to advertise their trade.  A big trade indeed.

JON C. OGG

Radio Shack Corp. (NYSE: RSH) is surging on ‘rumors’ today that we are skeptical of endorsing… Either way the stock saw 11.2 million shares trade as of 3:00 PM EST with the stock up around 5% and close to $21.00.

More important is the stock options trading, and it is also more impressive:

• March-2010 $20 and $22.50 Calls have seen over 23,000 options contracts trade between the two; while the open interest was only about 17,000 contracts.
• April-2010 $20 and $22.50 contracts combined have seen over 13,000 contracts versus barely 6,200 contracts in the open interest.

If you add up these call options you get some 36,000 contracts, which is 3.6 million shares worth of options on a fully leveraged basis that would be added to the volume.  The put option volume is paltry.

Caveat emptor!  Still, impressive volume.

JON C. OGG

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM)  is spiking higher this morning.  Maybe it is the realization that many other car companies are having recalls too.  But traders are pouncing on the buy-buttons on the screens at the open.  Shares are gapping up 3% at $76.72 right after the open.  At 9:33 AM EST we have seen 200,000 shares that have traded hands versus 1.8 million shares on average.  This is actually the highest price in the ADR since Feb. 16….
-JON OGG

These are this morning’s top day trader and active trader alerts seen moving on news and events.

Medivation, Inc. (NASDAQ: MDVN) is down almost 70% and at 52-week lows after its Dimebon failed in its Phase III trials to attack Alzheimer’s.  This is very active and will be the most active of all biotechs today with tens of millions of shares likely to trade.  At 8:42 AM EST we have seen 6.5 million shares and the last trade was $12.80.  The 52-week range was $13.36 to $40.49.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) is also indicated lower this morning as well as it was Medivation’s partner on Dimebon for the Alzheimer’s treatment. Pfizer is down 0.7% at $17.47 and it has seen 3.7 million shares as of 8:42 AM EST.

Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX) was doing so well…. Yet this morning we saw 3 downgrades from BofA/Merrill Lynch, Kaufman Bros, and Susquehanna.  At 8:42 AM EST we have seen 44,000 shares trade hands and shares are down 4% at $66.20. The 52-week range is $34.11 to $70.00.

Novell, Inc. (NASDAQ: NOVL) is soaring after it got a buyout offer from a private equity group called Elliott and the price was at $5.75 per share in cash.  Shares were trading up above $6.00 last night after the news as many are likely betting that the company will say no or ask for more money.  This morning at 8:43 AM EST we have seen 20 million shares trade hands versus 4.7 million shares on average.  The stock is up 30% at $6.20.

Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) had some light earnings on the surface.  Its most recent quarter was $0.70 EPS vs. $0.72 estimates. Revenue rose 11% to $18.7 billion vs. estimates of $18.5 billion.  The problem is valuation here at almost 20-times forward earnings.  At 8:44 AM EST shares are down 3.8% at $59.00 on 475,000 shares and the 52-week trading range is $38.17 to $62.12.  Average volume is 3.4 million shares.

VisionChina Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: VISN) is getting hit hard.  The stock closed at $8.20 yesterday and the shares are down 26% at $6.05 on 685,885 shares as of 8:48 AM EST.  The average volume here is only about 400,000 shares after its earnings report.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, top day trader and active trader alerts, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

These are this morning’s top day trader and active trader alert stocks seen on the move with news events.  We have provided appropriate trading data and color on each where applicable.

QUALCOMM Corp. (NASDAQ: QCOM) has done something to try to halt what has been a share price freefall after 7 straight down days.  The CDMA chipset designer announced a new $3 billion buyback program and announced that it was raising its quarterly dividend to $0.19 from $0.17.  Even at 8:28 AM EST we have seen over 750,000 shares trade hands and the stock is up 3.3% at $36.75.

Carrizo Oil & Gas Inc. (NASDAQ: CRZO) rose last night and is indicated higher again.  Jim Cramer interviewed the company CEO on CNBC’s Mad Money as a natural gas winner that still has room to improve. Volume is thin this morning so far but shares are indicated up 4% at $25.27.

Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ: DNDN) is trading lower this morning.  TheStreet.com has highlighted an independent report claiming that the company’s PROVENGE is likely to be brought before an FDA panel.  The reason for the drop is that most expected this to go straight to the approval process which is due on or before May 1.  Shares are down almost 7% at $30.25 on over 500,000 at 8:30 AM EST.

Terra Industries Inc. (NYSE: TRA) is back in the spotlight as the target of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CF).  CF is offering $47.40 for the company.   This is likely to put a focus on other fertilizer and potash companies today despite poor earnings data from the group.  CF is down 7% at $100.20 on almost 300,000 shares and Terra is up 12% at $46.35 (a new 52-week high above $43.13) on over 7.5 million shares as of 8:25 AM EST.

NutriSystem Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRI) is trading down sharply after earnings.  The company posted positive earnings for its Q4 period but guidance for the coming quarter is proving to be a very weak Q1.  Shares were down 12% at $16.50 last night in active trading and this morning at 8:25 AM EST we have shares down 14.3% at $16.19 on 170,000 shares in the pre-market.  Average volume is about 1.05 million shares and the 52-week range is $11.58 to $33.54.

Staples Inc. (NASDAQ: SPLS) is trading lower after earnings.  It posted $0.38 non-GAAP EPS vs. $0.39 estimate from Thomson Reuters and gave guidance for the coming quarter of $0.25 to $0.27 EPS versus estimates of $0.27.  At 8:25 AM EST we have seen 260,000 shares trade and the last print was down 6.2% at $24.25.  This was already very close to 52-week highs as its range of the last year is $14.35 to $26.00.

Nu Horizons Electronics Corp. (NASDAQ: NUHC) is usually thin volume.  But it and Xilinx are terminating a distribution pact.  Nu Horizons usually trades about 44,000 shares per day.  The market is not even open yet and at 8:33 AM EST we have seen 40,000 shares trade hands and the stock is down 28% at $3.14 to be the biggest percentage loser of the day.  The stock closed at $4.40 yesterday and the 52-week range is $1.45 to $4.68.

You can join our free daily email distribution list to hear more about top day trader and active trader alerts, dividend trends, analyst upgrades and downgrades, news on Buffett and other investment gurus, IPOs, secondary offerings, private equity, and more.

JON C. OGG

The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) started rising earlier today on buyout rumors and we have seen a virtual 300% of trading volume with more than 90 minutes left in the day.  The rumor mill noted billionaire Mexican investor Carlos Slim as potentially buying the rest of the company he does not own.  He owns approximately 6.5% of the company and if conversions of debt were all made it may be 14% or so.  CNBC just issued a brief note that a spokesperson for Carlos Slim has denied the rumors and said the rumor is absolutely not true.

Shares are up 4% at $11.38 on 7.7 million shares as of 2:21 PM EST.  Shares have traded as high as $12.00.

JON OGG