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Strategies & Market Trends : Tech Stock Options -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jerry Olson who wrote (28336)	11/13/1997 12:44:00 PM
From: ViperChick Secret Agent 006.9	Respond to of 58727

OJ I dont think it is a blip on the screen...it should be..but it wont be...unless you mean temporarily..then I agree with you...but if somethinng happens the market is not just going to blip on that day! Saddam may appear to be a fool (and maybe INSANE)...but dont you think he knew that the UN would not give in to him....and he knew the response...but it is beyond me what he is trying to accomplish....unless he wanted the time to get his weapons together... from yesterday: US OPTIONS FOCUS/SPX put sellers crush premiums CHICAGO, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Investors were selling November puts in the S&P 500 index (.SPX), which eroded premiums even as the underlying market remained under pressure, traders said Wednesday. ''We've had mostly a lot of November put sellers,'' said one SPX options trader. ''Premium's got to come in some time. There's only like four more days (to trade) after today.'' November SPX options go off the board next Wednesday and expire on Thursday, November 20. By about 1130 CST/1730 GMT, the SPX was down 3.14 at 920.64 after reaching 913.91 in early trading. December S&P 500 futures lost 2.20 to 924.40 and the Dow industrial average (.DJI) was down 40 points at about 7,518. Among SPX puts, the November 900 traded nearly 6,100 contracts, the November 880 traded 4,330 and the November 925 traded 2,580. The 925s were nearest to at-the-money and were down 3/4 at 18. The busy November 900 puts were down 1-1/8 at 9, after climbing to 13-7/8 off the opening on the market's initial selloff. One of the few SPX November puts to gain ground was the 930, which rose 1/2 to 21 on turnover of 2,105 contracts. Some investors were buying out-of-the-money November SPX calls, but the trader said that probably represented closing out positions. The November 990 call traded 3,810 contracts, the 940 call traded 3,535 and the 970 traded 3,110. November call premiums were also under pressure. The November 900 call, which traded 3,500 contracts, was down 3 points at 32. The November 940 call lost 2-1/2 to 7-7/8 and the November 970 fell 15/16 to 2-7/16. The SPX trader said one highlight was in the December 850 puts, which traded more than 4,500 contracts. ''We had one customer from a large institution come in and buy a lot of December 850 puts here and at the Merc (Chicago Mercantile Exchange),'' the trader said. ''He paid up to around 18 when the market was down lower.'' SPX futures-options trade at the Merc. At the Chicago Board Options Exchange, the SPX December 850 put was down 1/2 at 15 after climbing to 18-7/8. Open interest was heavy at about 47,225 contracts. Traders said the institution buying those puts was a major U.S. investment house. Elsewhere, index options activity was on the modest side as investors awaited word on whether the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates. The Fed's policy unit, the Federal Open Market Committee, meets today but most economists and analysts do not expect a change in rates. ''It's been a pretty quiet morning,'' an OEX options trader said. ''SPX has been pretty busy, but OEX and the Dow have been relatively quiet.'' The CBOE said that on Tuesday, its options on the Dow industrials traded more than 100,000 contracts for the first time since their October 6 launch, with volume of 136,021.