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To: GST who wrote (47603)	3/27/1999 8:18:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 164684

U.S. OPTIONS/Microsoft calls well bid, vols climb CHICAGO, March 26 (Reuters) - Calls on Microsoft Corp. <MSFT.O> were well bid on Friday even as the stock pulled back following a strong rise fueled by prospects of a settlement of the government's antitrust case. Implied volatility, a key factor in determining options prices, rose in excess of 50 percent for the April at-the-money contract. "Long run averages (for implied volatility) is about 31 or 32 percent," said Doug Rountree, a trader on the Pacific Exchange. "We're seeing some real active call buying." He attributed the strong interest in Microsoft calls to nervousness about a possible settlement and ahead of the stock split next week. "There's also good buying ahead of the stock split. They're coming after the April calls and they're paying pretty good premiums," another options trader said. Options trading was brisk on the Pacific Exchange, where the April 170, April 180 and April 190 calls were among the most actively traded, registering combined volume of more than 12,400 contracts by 1221 CST/1821 GMT. The April 170 puts also drew good interest, with more than 900 contracts changing hands. The underlying stock, was down 1-5/16 to 178-5/8 after scaling a fresh peak at 180-3/8 earlier. Volume was heavy, with 14.2 million shares, making it the second most actively traded stock on the Nasdaq after Dell Computer Corp. <DELL.O>.