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Technology Stocks : Wind River going up, up, up! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Scott Kessler who wrote (3954)	1/22/1999 7:05:00 PM
From: Snowshoe	Respond to of 10309

U.S. OPTIONS/Wind River vols surge as stock tanks Friday January 22, 6:37 pm Eastern Time biz.yahoo.com CHICAGO, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Implied volatility on options on software developer Wind River Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:WIND - news) surged on Friday afternoon as the stock sank on heavy trading volume. Implied volatility, a key factor in determining options prices, spiked as high as 175 percent in the February at-the-money options, up from the mid-60 percent level, traders said. ''Vols have gone through the stratosphere. They seem to be topping out at 175 (percent),'' said Andrew Schwarz, a senior partner at AGS Specialist Partners at the American Stock Exchange, where the options are listed. He noted institutional and retail buying of both calls and puts, but added that two large institutions were featured put buyers. Call volume outpaced put volume 921 contracts to 497. The stock, among the most actively traded on the Nasdaq with volume of 8.4 million shares, closed 17-5/16 lower at 32-3/16. The company earlier this month announced a three-for-two stock split effective on January 19. Schwarz said traders there did not know what was driving options activity. Paul Foster, investment strategist and editor of 1010WallStreet.com, cited vague talk that the company would miss its fourth quarter numbers, due for release on February 25. ''There's something going on,'' Foster added. ''You don't see vols rise like that for no reason.'' No one at the company was available to comment. According to a First Call survey of five brokers, Wind River was expected to post a profit of $0.29 per share.