Latest news with #calloptions
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
'Big Short' investor Burry turned more bullish on second quarter
By Carolina Mandl NEW YORK (Reuters) -Michael Burry's Scion Asset Management ended the first quarter more bullish on companies across different sectors and geographies, a securities filing showed on Thursday, after betting against Chinese companies previously as the Trump administration considered imposing tariffs. Burry, known as the "Big Short" investor for his prescient calls ahead of the 2008 U.S. housing market crash, placed bets that benefit from a rise in share prices. The call options convey the right to buy shares at a set price in the future. The investor bought call options on Chinese companies Alibaba and Dutch semiconductor supplier ASML Holding and on some U.S. names, such as cosmetics company Estee Lauder, Lululemon Athletica, Meta Platforms, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, UnitedHealth Group, and VF Corp. Scion's portfolio also included long-only positions in Bruker Corp, Estee Lauder, Lululemon, Regeneron, and UnitedHealth. Burry's second-quarter portfolio contrasts with bets against Alibaba, Baidu, and PDD Holdings in the first quarter, ahead of Trump's announcement of high levies on goods imported from China. The securities filing does not indicate Burry's current holdings. After the S&P 500 dipped to its lowest point in almost a year on April 8 following Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcement, U.S. stocks recovered. Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq reached record closing highs in June, capping their best quarter in over a year as hopes for trade deals and possible rate cuts eased investor uncertainty. Both indexes ended the quarter with double-digit gains. The S&P 500 gained 10.57% during the period, and the Nasdaq rose 17.75%. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Reuters
5 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
'Big Short' investor Burry turned more bullish on second quarter
NEW YORK, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Michael Burry's Scion Asset Management ended the first quarter more bullish on companies across different sectors and geographies, a securities filing showed on Thursday, after betting against Chinese companies previously as the Trump administration considered imposing tariffs. Burry, known as the "Big Short" investor for his prescient calls ahead of the 2008 U.S. housing market crash, placed bets that benefit from a rise in share prices. The call options convey the right to buy shares at a set price in the future. The investor bought call options on Chinese companies Alibaba ( opens new tab and ( opens new tab, Dutch semiconductor supplier ASML Holding ( opens new tab and on some U.S. names, such as cosmetics company Estee Lauder (EL.N), opens new tab, Lululemon Athletica (LULU.O), opens new tab, Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN.O), opens new tab, UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N), opens new tab, and VF Corp (VFC.N), opens new tab. Scion's portfolio also included long-only positions in Bruker Corp (BRKR.O), opens new tab, Estee Lauder, Lululemon, Regeneron, and UnitedHealth. Burry's second-quarter portfolio contrasts with bets against Alibaba, Baidu ( opens new tab, and PDD Holdings (PDD.O), opens new tab in the first quarter, ahead of Trump's announcement of high levies on goods imported from China. The securities filing does not indicate Burry's current holdings. After the S&P 500 dipped to its lowest point in almost a year on April 8 following Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcement, U.S. stocks recovered. Both the S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab and the Nasdaq reached record closing highs in June, capping their best quarter in over a year as hopes for trade deals and possible rate cuts eased investor uncertainty. Both indexes ended the quarter with double-digit gains. The S&P 500 gained 10.57% during the period, and the Nasdaq rose 17.75%.
Bloomberg
5 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Equinox Gold Options Bet Nets Quick 170% Gain on Earnings Beat
An investor who bought 6 million shares worth of Equinox Gold Corp. call options Tuesday more than doubled their money after the Vancouver-based miner's earnings beat estimates, sending shares soaring by the most since 2022. A block of 60,000 October $7.50 calls traded midday Tuesday for $0.30 each, for a total $1.8 million in premium, with market participants noting that an investor was buying the contracts.
Wall Street Journal
03-08-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Investors Seek Safety During Stock Selloff
The ratio of put options to call options rose Friday to its highest level since mid-June. That suggests people are reaching for puts, which offer the right to sell a stock at a certain price, to brace for more declines.
Yahoo
30-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Morgan Stanley Shows Huge, Unusual Call Options Volume - Are Investors Bullish?
Morgan Stanley (MS) is showing huge amounts of volume in call options that expire on Friday. Is it a signal that investors are bullish on MS stock? After all, the Wall Street firm had strong Q2 earnings, implying potential upside. MS is at $144.43 in midday trading on Wednesday, July 30. That's up from $141.59 on July 15, just before it released Q2 earnings pre-open on July 16. More News from Barchart $200 AMD Price Target? Try These 2 Option Trades Before the Market Moves Pfizer Stock Is a Value Play Ahead of Earnings - Investors Can Short PFE Puts for Income Why Unusual Options Activity for Builders FirstSource (BLDR) May Point to an Earnings Surprise Stop Missing Market Moves: Get the FREE Barchart Brief – your midday dose of stock movers, trending sectors, and actionable trade ideas, delivered right to your inbox. Sign Up Now! The heavy call options volume can be seen in today's Barchart Unusual Stock Options Activity Report. It shows that almost 6,800 call option contracts have traded at the $147.00 call option strike price expiring Friday, Aug. 1. That volume is almost 30x the prior number of call options contracts previously outstanding at that strike price. This shows huge institutional interest in these options. Moreover, this call option is just slightly over today's price, so it is 'out-of-the-money' (OTM) by less than 2.0% (i.e., $147.00/$144.43 -1 = 0.0178 = +1.78% OTM). The premium paid is just 0.16% of the stock price (i.e., $0.23/$144.43). That means that buyers of these call options believe MS stock will rise over the next two days to $177.23, or just +1.94% higher. Does that mean investors are bullish on MS stock? Possibly, but why wouldn't an investor who buys these calls pick a later period? At least that way, they would have more time left to see the stock rise. It's also possible that some short-sellers of these calls (especially if they already own shares in MS) believe that MS might not rise to $147.00 in the next two days. That way, they gain a very small income yield, about 0.15% over the next 2 days. Either way, it appears that MS stock looks strong here, based on its recent Q2 earnings. Strong Q2 Results Morgan Stanley, which makes money from institutional securities (investment banking, and proprietary trading), wealth management, as well as investment management activities, said its Q2 revenue rose +11.8% YoY. However, the market is more concerned about its bottom line. For example, its earnings per share (EPS) were up +17% and its return on tangible equity (ROTE) was higher at 18.2% in the quarter vs. 17.5% last year. In addition, tangible book value rose +8.4% YoY to $47.25 per share. Most of the company's divisions posted stronger results, although investment banking revenues were down slightly (typically volatile). As a result, investors likely expect that its strong earnings will stay on track going forward. Valuation Is High That means that MS stock now trades for 2.34x book value (i.e., $144.43/$61.59 BV). That is higher than its historical average. For example, Morningstar reports that its historical price/book value (P/BV) ratio has been 1.62x, and Seeking Alpha reports a similar ratio with a forward P/BV ratio of 1.64x. However, its average dividend yield has been 2.72% over the last 5 years, and today MS trades for a 2.77% yield (i.e., $4.00/$144.43 = 0.02769). In addition, its forward P/E (price/earnings) average has been 13.02x, which is lower than today's figure. For example, analysts forecast between $8.86 earnings per share (EPS) this year and $9.58 in 2026. That puts it on a forward P/E of 15.7x (i.e., $144.43/$9.22 next 12 months average EPS). So, on balance, it seems that MS stock may be fully valued at today's price. Investors might not be expecting huge upside in MS stock. Conclusion As a result, investors should be careful about copying today's huge increase in MS call options volume. After all, there are only two days left in this contract, and it appears that much of the volume could be from institutional investors. That implies they may be playing a very short-term trading strategy in MS stock. This may have nothing to do with Morgan Stanley's long-term outlook or even its valuation, as described above. The bottom line is that investors should be careful about investing in out-of-the-money (OTM) call options for MS stock expiring Friday, Aug. 1. On the date of publication, Mark R. Hake, CFA did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
