Iron Condor Crops Up on Tyco International Ltd.

Today’s tickers: TYC, JWN, ACOR & MRO TYC  - Tyco International Ltd. –  An investor expecting shares in Tyco International to remain range bound over the next couple of months constructed an iron condor on the industrial products company using call and put options expiring in April. Shares in Tyco are currently up 0.40% to stand at $46.98 as of 10:40am in New York. The options strategist appears to have sold the 900-lot April $48/$50 call spread to pocket an average net credit of $0.55 per contract, in combination with the sale of the 900-lot April $43/$45 put spread for an average net credit of $0.35 per contract. The iron condor yields a total net credit of $0.90 per contract, which the investor keeps in full as long as shares in Tyco International trade above $45.00 and below $48.00 through April expiration. Buying the higher-strike calls and the lower-strike puts reduces the harvestable premium on the short legs of the transaction, but also caps losses for the investor in case the position moves against him at some point. The investor faces maximum potential losses of $1.10 per contract if shares either rally above $50.00, or slip beneath $43.00 ahead of expiration day in April. JWN  - Nordstrom, Inc. –  Shares in specialty fashion retailer, Nordstrom, are up 1.55% at $47.20 this morning following the firm’s better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings report after the close of trading on Thursday. Nordstrom said it earned $1.04 a share in the quarter, beating average analyst estimates of $1.00 a share. Additionally, the retailer reported it is buying the online private sale marketplace HauteLook, which has some 4 million members, for $180 million in stock. Nordstrom is reportedly the first department store chain to purchase one of the limited-time deal, or ‘flash-sale’, websites. Trading in JWN by one…