Today’s tickers: MS, EWZ & MDR
MS - Morgan Stanley – JPMorgan’s trading loss troubles, which brought the shares down nearly 10.0% this morning, weighed heavily on Morgan Stanley as well. Shares in the financial services firm earlier fell 5.8% to an intraday and four-month low of $14.70. Options traders expecting MS to bounce back next week picked up cheapened upside exposure in the form of May expiry calls. The bullish plays may be winning propositions in the event of a near term recovery in the price of the underlying. Traders purchased around 2,100 of the May $14 strike calls for an average premium of $1.05 apiece, and picked up more than 4,800 calls at the higher May $15 strike at an average premium of $0.36 each. Premiums on the $14 and $15 strike calls have moved higher during the session as shares in the name recovered off the morning lows. Strategists holding in-the-money contracts with one week remaining to expiration face average breakeven prices of $15.05 and $15.36, respectively.
EWZ - iShares MSCI Brazil Index Fund – Shares in the EWZ, currently up 0.75% on the day at $57.53, may extend gains in the near term by the looks of bullish positioning in the June expiry options this morning. Call options on the fund are most active out at the June $60 strike, where more than 36,000 contracts changed hands against open interest of 9,244 positions. Most of the calls appear to have been purchased for an average premium of $0.80 apiece. The single largest stake, a block of 29,707 calls, was picked up just before 11:00 a.m. ET this morning. Call buyers stand ready to profit at expiration next month in the event that shares in the Brazil ETF rally 5.7% to top the average breakeven…
