Today’s tickers: XLE, MFE, FITB, SLM, XHB, F, INTC & XLF

XLE – Shares of the energy fund are higher by about 1% to $48.35. We observed one energetic option investor who appears to have purchased to close an 8,000-lot strangle today, that was originally established back on May 8, 2009. It looks as though the strangle was originally sold for a gross premium of between 3.58 and 4.22 through the sale of 8,000 puts at the June 47 strike price and the sale of 8,000 calls at the June 53 strike. Today the investor bought back the position for a total of 31 cents per contract. Thus, this individual is left with net gains of between 3.27 and 3.91 each by closing out the position today. The trader has reeled in minimum profits of $2,616,000 or maximum profits of $3,128,000. – Energy Select Sector SPDR

MFE – The security technology company appeared on our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner this afternoon amid a more than 4% rally in shares to $41.86. Bullish investors hoping for continued upward movement in the price of the underlying looked to get long of calls in the near-term July contract. Traders picked up more than 3,500 call options at the July 45 strike price for an average premium of 22 cents apiece. McAfee shares would need to climb higher by approximately 8% in order for individuals who are now long the calls to breakeven at a price of $45.22 by expiration. Option implied volatility on MFE has risen throughout the trading day from a low of 31% to the current reading of nearly 35%. – McAfee Inc.

FITB – The Ohio-based bank holding company has experienced a modest rally in shares by about 1.5% to $7.05. FITB caught our attention amid a call-to-put ratio of more than 18-to-1, suggesting bullish activity on the stock. Upon further investigation, it appears that today’s activity is the work of an investor initiating a calendar spread in the expectation of continued bullish movement in the stock through expiration in November. It looks as though this individual sold 10,000 calls at the August 9.0 strike price for a premium of 20 cents apiece and then spread the sale against the purchase of 10,000 calls at the November 9.0 strike price for 63 cents per contract. The net cost of the bullish stance amounts to 43 cents and yields a breakeven point at $9.43. Shares of…
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