11:09 ET
2. Options players were also scrambling on Friday to grab up January 55
calls for Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN). Open interest on this out-of-the-money call
jumped from 21,837 to 31,909 contracts. The option saw blocks of 9,000 and
2,459 contracts cross the tape at 0.85, which was between the bid and ask
prices. This strike is also the site of peak call open interest in the
January series and could offer up potential resistance in the future. AMGN
must still overcome peak December call open interest at the 50 strike, which
has more than 32,600 contracts. From a sentiment standpoint, calls continue
to outnumber puts in the front three months of options. AMGN's SOIR sits at
0.64. On the other hand, this reading is higher than 79.2 percent of those
taken over the past 52 weeks. Furthermore, the security's short interest
plunged 18 percent over the most recent reporting period to 23 million shares.
These positions can be covered in roughly one day of trading. Analysts also
dote on the biotechnology firm, with 24 of the 28 brokerage firms covering the
company rating it a "buy" or better. This leaves ample room for future
downgrades that could further depress the shares. After gapping above the 50
level on December 12, the stock continues to test support at this key level as
it struggles to remain above it.
Click the following link to see the Daily Chart of AMGN since July 2002:
schaeffersresearch.com . |
