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

To: sergio who wrote (34033)	1/25/1998 12:51:00 AM
From: MonsieurGonzo	Respond to of 58727

Sergio; RE:" OXY, CAT options activities... " From REUTERS... ...One sizable options trade at the CBOE involved 12,000 February 35 puts in Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY). A CBOE market maker said the transaction was a "cross" trade conducted directly between two customers. One bought the puts, which were deep in the money, in combination with shares of the stock in what is called a "married put" transaction. The other party sold the puts and the stock. While the option buyer's position is very low risk, it is also a long shot on a rally with the stock trading at 25-1/2 and therefore probably involves other components in a complex strategy in which the married put deal is just one part, Schwartz said. From REUTERS... ...In other options activity, the focus was largely on the put side in many big-name stocks, including Caterpillar Inc (NYSE:CAT), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), AT&T and Philip Morris (NYSE:MO), noted Michael Schwartz, managing director at CIBC Oppenheimer. Schwartz said a sophisticated investor appeared to be selling puts on a variety of blue-chip stocks in anticipation of the overall market recovering when the sex scandal involving U.S. President Bill Clinton finally dies down. "Based on the size, it looks like an institutional seller trying to capture premium while the rest of the country worries about Clinton's romances," said Schwartz. He said the investor was likely to repurchase the puts fairly quickly. ...the options in CAT were very interesting, Sergio: 7000 VKTMI JAN99 45 PUTS @ 4-5/8 (short PUTs) 2000 CATEJ MAY 50 CALLS @ 1-9/16 2000 VKTAK JAN99 55 CALLS @ 2-7/8 ...would you call that a BULL SPREAD, folks ?? (^_^) -Steve