Today’s tickers: DMND, IR & SCHW
DMND - Diamond Foods, Inc. – Shares in Diamond Foods fell more than 11% on Monday morning to an intraday low of $13.12 following the company’s fourth-quarter earnings release after the closing bell on Friday. The stock last month slipped to $12.85, the lowest level since the company revealed it must restate two years of earnings, lost its bid to purchase the Pringles brand, and replaced top executives. Options on the maker of Emerald nuts and other consumer food products are far more active than usual today, with some positions looking for shares in the name to slump to fresh lows and others preparing for a near-term rebound in the price of the underlying. The put-to-call volume is hovering around 2-to-1 just after midday in New York, and the bulk of trading traffic is in the weekly contracts. Traders exchanged more than 3,350 of the Dec. 14 ’12 $13.5 strike puts this morning, buying most of the contracts for an average premium of $0.58 apiece. The $13 strike weekly put options attracted heavy volume as well, with some 1,700 lots in play versus zero open positions. Traders buying the $13 strike contracts paid an average premium of $0.34 per contract in the early going, and stand ready to profit at expiration in the event that Diamond’s shares decline 6% from the current price of $13.48, to trade below the breakeven point at $12.66. Meanwhile, fresh interest in the Dec. 14 ’12 $13.5 strike calls today indicates some traders may profit from a near-term pop in the share price. Upwards of 3,900 of the $13.5 strike calls have changed hands as of 12:30 p.m. ET, and it appears much of the volume was purchased for an average premium of $0.40 apiece. Call buyers make money if shares in Diamond Foods settle above the average breakeven price of $13.40 at expiration.
IR - Ingersoll-Rand PLC – Options volume on industrial machinery maker, Ingersoll-Rand, rose well above the stock’s daily average this morning due to heavy trading…
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