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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: steve harris who wrote (107658)	4/24/2000 7:23:00 PM
From: chic_hearne	Respond to of 1574179

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Sees Heavy Call Activity 4/24/00 6:22:52 PM Despite a bumpy day for technology stocks in general, semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices (AMD - 79-1/2) managed a positive showing for the day. AMD finished the day up by more than one percent to record an all-time intraday high, while the Nasdaq Composite (COMP - 3482.4) finished today?s trading down 4.4 percent. The PHLX Semiconductor Index (SOX - 994.32), which includes AMD, finished nearly three percent lower today. AMD has been one tech name that has held up well despite the correction in tech issues over the past month and a half. In March, the shares broke out from a long-term trading range that had confined AMD for over a decade (see the first chart below). From a shorter-term technical perspective, the stock?s upleg this year has been roughly supported by its 20-day moving average (see the second chart below). The shares were recently aided by the news of a blowout earnings report. On April 12 the company reported earnings of $1.15 per share, which squashed the Street consensus estimate of 58 cents per share. Since that point, call options speculators have begun to take note of the ascent in AMD. Schaeffer?s put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) on the security has dropped from 0.59 at earnings to 0.41 as of last Thursday?s close. Today, option activity was again skewed sharply toward the call side. Among May, June, and July AMD options, total call volume was 18,229 contracts, while total put volume was only 2,784 contracts. Today, the call activity centered on the at-the-money May 80 call. Altogether, the option saw over 6,600 contracts cross the tape. From a longer-term perspective, AMD?s rally comes after an extreme in pessimistic sentiment logged last July. At that time, total puts exceeded total calls for a period of time. The chart below is a one-year chart of the SOIR for AMD. When speculators are extremely pessimistic on an equity as evidenced by a high SOIR, the shares can be poised for an explosive rally. Please visit Schaeffer?s Daily Sentiment to learn more about SOIR. schaeffersresearch.com