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Technology Stocks : Ascend Communications (ASND) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sowbug who wrote (47906)	6/2/1998 7:46:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 61433

U.S. OPTIONS/Tech trade active on sector bounce Reuters Story - June 02, 1998 18:14 %ELI %DPR %BUS %ENT %US %DRV %STX %.N/OPT .NDX DELL GIC COMS MSFT CPQ AMAT .DJI .OEX V%REUTER P%RTR CHICAGO, June 2 (Reuters) - Stepped-up activity in options on U.S. technology stocks Tuesday was a mixture of speculative and protective trade as the sector rebounded from the previous day's selloff, analysts said. The Nasdaq 100 Index rose 21.60 to 1187.15 after bouncing off an 11-week low of 1160.13 reached Monday. Volumes were heavier than normal in technology options on both the Pacific Exchange and Philadelphia Stock Exchange, analysts said. Among the busiest were Dell Computer Corp. , General Instrument Corp. , 3Com Corp. , Microsoft Corp. , Compaq Computer Corp. and Applied Materials Inc. , traders and analysts said. "People are chasing stocks that are moving, trying to play the quick rebound," said Larry McMillan, president of McMillan Analysis Corp. But holders of technology shares were also writing covered calls and buying puts, said a market maker at the Pacific Exchange. "Paper in general is protective in nature, looking for more movement to the downside," the market maker said. "People see the Dow not moving as significant." The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished 31.13 lower at 8891.24, posting an inside technical day after trading higher in the morning. Stocks' recent daily pattern of afternoon deterioration following opening strength is atypical for a bull market, where the reverse usually holds true, said Jerry Hegarty, publisher of Hegarty's Options Navigator. "This is a bad precedent the market has been setting," Hegarty said. Tech options implied volatilities have snapped back from their lows of about a week ago, traders noted. Dell volatility, for example, is back trading above 50 percent after dipping into the mid-40s. The S&P 100 Index ended 1.13 higher at 528.71, after a choppy session that saw good buyers of both puts and calls emerge on market dips, said Jack Callahan, a market maker at the Chicago Board Options Exchange.