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Non-Tech : Knight/Trimark Group, Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sanjay Desai who wrote (4405)	9/30/1999 4:47:00 PM
From: gbh	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10027

Options Traders Make Bold Moves in Confused Market By Erin Arvedlund Staff Reporter 9/30/99 2:24 PM ET As the overall market floated in a noncommittal range this morning, options traders weren't shy about making some oddball plays that stood out like beach blankets on the tundra. Trading in online brokerages like Ameritrade (AMTD:Nasdaq), E*Trade (EGRP:Nasdaq), National Discount Brokers (NDB:NYSE) and market maker Knight/Trimark (NITE:Nasdaq) continued on the brisk pace established in the past week. Trading in Ameritrade centered on a particular contract -- the 2001 January 16 5/8 puts-- that was active last month just as the online broker was issuing a poorly received convertible offering. This time around, traders said Bear Stearns was the buyer of the very same puts -- to the tune of about 3,300 contracts, at a price of 6 ($600 per contract), according to the Pacific Exchange market maker who was the seller on Wednesday. That trade now represents about half of the open interest in that strike. "I don't know if it's against the convertible," said Letco's James Burleson, a primary market maker in San Francisco. "If I were a betting man -- and I'm not because I trade options -- I'd guess they're buying puts and stock" at the same time, he added. In other words, the puts represent an insurance policy in case the stock falls even further; the buyer of them likely then would hold a corresponding amount of stock in his or her portfolio. There might be another reason for the timing of the purchase. Earlier this week, Ameritrade's convertible bonds became available to retail investors; prior to that, they were limited to those known as "qualified investors."