Today’s tickers: XHB, GILD & JAZZ
XHB - SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF – Shares in the XHB, which last week hit a five-year high of $26.10 on the heels of Thursday’s FOMC announcement, are down 1.5% this morning at $25.48 as of 11:25 a.m. ET. One options strategist positioning for the price of the underlying to potentially extend declines in the near term appears to have established a bear put spread in the October expiry. The strategy may be a hedge to protect the value of a long position in the underlying, or could be an outright bearish bet that shares in the XHB are poised to pullback somewhat during the next five weeks. It looks like the trader purchased a 4,000-lot Oct. $23/$25 put spread at a net premium of $0.46 per contract. The spread makes money if shares in the Homebuilders ETF slip 3.7% to breach the effective breakeven price of $24.54, while maximum potential profits of $1.54 per contract are available in the event XHB shares drop 10% to $23.00 at expiration next month. Shares in the Homebuilders ETF have increased roughly 110% since October 2011 as the housing market continues to recover.
GILD - Gilead Sciences, Inc.– The biopharmaceutical company’s shares surged 5.3% to an all-time high of $65.31 this morning on positive analyst comments regarding the drug maker’s HIV and hepatitis C treatments. Earlier this morning an analyst at JPMorgan raised his target share price on Gilead Sciences to $75.00 from $70.00, while an analyst with Deutsche Bank raised her price target to $68.00 from $65.00 on Friday. Options activity on GILD this morning suggests some traders are positioning for shares in the name to extend gains in the near term. Upside call buyers targeted the Sep. $65 and $67.5 strikes, with volume at each strike rising to 2,900 and 1,700 contracts, respectively, by midday. Traders appear to have purchased much of the volume, paying an average premium of $0.63…
