Today’s tickers: LVS, ARUN & PLCE
LVS - Las Vegas Sands, Inc. – U.S. stocks rebounded this morning on better-than-expected earnings from Hewlett-Packard and AIG released Thursday, and following market-soothing comments from St. Louis Fed Chief, James Bullard, to CNBC’s Squawk Box on Friday morning. Shares in casino resort operator, Las Vegas Sands, joined in on the end-of-week rally, rising as much as 2.5% in the early going to touch $50.32. Heavy trading traffic in May expiry call options this morning suggests some traders are positioning for shares in the name to extend gains during the next few months. The May $52.5 strike calls are seeing the most volume, with more than 21,000 contracts in play versus open interest of 282 contracts as of 11:45 a.m. ET. It looks like most of the calls were purchased for an average premium of $2.04 each. Fresh interest is also building in the May $50 strike calls where roughly 4,700 contracts appear to have been purchased for an average premium of $3.10 apiece. Traders long the May $50 and $52.5 strike calls may profit at expiration should shares in LVS rally approximately 6.0% and 9.0% to exceed average breakeven points at $53.10 and $54.54, respectively. Finally, one or more bullish traders appear to be buying the May $50/$60 call spread for an average net premium of $2.65 per contract. The bull call spread pays off if shares in Las Vegas Sands top the breakeven price of $52.65 by May expiration, with maximum potential profits of $7.35 per contract available if the stock jumps to a record high of $60.00.
ARUN - Aruba Networks, Inc. – Shares in Aruba Networks jumped nearly 30% on Friday morning to a new 52-week high of $26.78 after the provider of enterprise mobility solutions reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and sales, and forecast third-quarter revenue above analyst estimates. A sizable bullish bet initiated on Aruba ahead of the company’s earnings release is paying off for one trader today, as shares sit at their highest level since July…
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