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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: PartyTime who wrote (13999)	3/6/1998 3:27:00 PM
From: Teddy	Respond to of 95453

Speaking of thestreetdotcom: "By Gregg Wirth Staff Reporter 3/6/98 2:35 PM ET With options activity quieter this morning, especially among tech stocks, several speculative option plays took center stage, as traders placed bets on further action in the oil industry and another rumored acquisition by "Chainsaw" Al Dunlap's Sunbeam (SOC:NYSE). Among oil stocks, options activity was high for both EVI (EVI:NYSE) and Marine Drilling (MDCO:Nasdaq). Both companies saw heavy call activity, although options specialists deduce different meanings. EVI saw its March 40 in-the-money calls trade about 3,700 contracts by midmorning, leading options activity among the heavy traders. The calls were trading for 8 1/2 per 1,000 contracts, or $850 each, after dropping in price from 10 per 1,000 contracts. EVI's stock was at 47 11/16, down 7/8. On Wednesday, EVI announced its $2.4 billion stock-swap acquisition of Weatherford Enterra (WII:NYSE). However, reports surfaced today that the Securities and Exchange Commission was looking into the preannouncement jump in Weatherford's stock. "I would expect the SEC to investigate the stock trading," says Jim Wicklund, an oil service analyst at Dain Rauscher in Dallas, referring to the more than 20% rise and tremendous volume in Weatherford's shares on Tuesday. Nonetheless, Wicklund likes the acquisition and says EVI is not yet finished making acquisitions. The SEC involvement may be spooking some options investors, one source said. Because there was little action in EVI options except for the March 40 calls, one interpretation could be that someone is making a bet that this deal won't be completed, said Joe Sunderman, senior research analyst at Investment Research Institute. "But once arbitrageurs come in on this, it is really hard to figure out these positions," he added. Marine Drilling saw activity in its April 20 in-the-money calls, moving more than 2,100 contracts. With the stock trading at 22, up 1 3/16, and the options moving at 3 1/4, speculators may be betting the stock could continue to climb. Marine Drilling has recently emerged as a likely consolidation candidate in the oil drilling sector, according to industry observers...."