Optimism Detected In Plum Creek Timber Options Despite Earnings Miss

Today’s tickers: PCL, XLE, TIN & AEM PCL  - Plum Creek Timber Co., Inc. –  Seattle, WA-based Plum Creek Timber Co. posted lower-than-anticipated second-quarter net income of $0.27 a share after the close on Monday, missing average the average analyst forecast of $0.29 a share to send the price of the underlying down as much as 4.2% today to $38.75. Put options on Plum Creek are active post-earnings, but it looks like much of the volume was generated by investors taking long-term bullish views on the stock. Trading traffic in PCL options is heaviest at the Jan. 2012 $38 strike where more than 2,700 puts changed hands against previously existing open interest of just 65 contracts. The majority of the puts exchanged at that strike appear to have been sold at an average premium of $2.32 per contract. Put sellers keep the full amount of premium received on the transaction as long as shares in Plum Creek Timber exceed $38.00 through expiration day in January. Traders short the puts have time erosion working in their favor, and may also benefit from subsiding levels of options implied volatility on the stock. Investors likely expect shares to resist above $38.00 over the next six months, but stand ready to take delivery of the stock at an effective price of $35.68 a share, on average, should the puts land in-the-money at expiration next year. XLE  - Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund –  Massive prints in September contract call options covering the Energy SPDR appear to be the work of an investor adjusting a previously established bullish position on the sector. Shares in the XLE, an exchange-traded fund that tracks the performance of the Energy Select Sector of the S&P 500 Index, turned positive this afternoon to trade 0.10% higher on the day at $79.50…