Today’s tickers: SVU, OMX & URBN
SVU - SUPERVALU Inc. – The sale of a massive block of 25,000 call options on the supermarket operator this morning may mean one strategist has little appetite for a significant Supervalu rally, at least through September expiration day. No telling if the two are related, but the sale of the call options occurred roughly one hour before the company’s CFO was scheduled to present to investors at the Goldman Sachs 18th Annual Global Retailing Conference in New York City. SVU’s shares rallied at the open, increasing 2.5% to an intraday high of $7.84, but surrendered much of those gains to stand 0.65% higher on the session at $7.70 as of 12:25 pm ET. The investor responsible for the hefty transaction may or may not be long the stock. It looks like the trader sold 25,000 calls outright at the September $8.0 strike for a premium of $0.20 per contract. The premium remains in the investor’s wallet as long as Supervalu’s shares trade below $8.00 and the calls expire worthless at expiration next week. Potentially devastating losses could result for the trader if the short calls are uncovered, and the price of the underlying stock spikes higher ahead of expiration. Premium received on the sale of the calls provides limited protection in the event of an SVU rally, but the insurance policy gives way to losses if SVU’s shares exceed the effective breakeven price of $8.20 at September expiration day. If the investor is long the stock, it seems he is happy to pad his portfolio with premium today, and willing to have shares called from him at $8.00 should the calls land in-the-money next Friday.
OMX - OfficeMax Inc. – Shares in the office supplies retailer rallied 6.3% this morning to $5.59 despite third-quarter sales estimates that trail those recorded in the same period last year, CEO Ravi Saligram’s comments that OfficeMax is, “experiencing a soft Back-to-School season,” and tough macroeconomic conditions to boot. Saligram spoke today at the…
