Today’s tickers: MAKO, V & DF
MAKO – MAKO Surgical Corp. – Options on medical device maker, MAKO Surgical Corp., are more active than usual today after the company said it experienced lower than expected growth in the first half of 2012 and lowered its sales forecast for the RIO(R) robotic arm orthopedic system to 42 to 48 systems from prior guidance of 52 to 58 systems for the full year. Shares in MAKO sold off sharply on the news, dropping more than 40% in early trading to a new 52-week low of $14.625. The company is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings after the close on August 6th. Options volume on MAKO is approaching 25,000 contracts as of 11:15 a.m. in New York versus the stock’s average daily options volume of 3,988 contracts. Some strategies in play this morning suggest the stock may have sold off a bit too hard, with light call buying in the July and August expiries looking for the stock to rebound somewhat in the near term. Additionally, put sellers populating the stock appear to be betting shares are unlikely to hit fresh lows from here in the near future. Traders eyeing the potential for share price improvement in the next couple of weeks snapped up July $15 and $17.5 strike calls at average premiums of $1.03 and $0.25 apiece, respectively. Call buying spread to the Aug. $15, $17.5 and $20 strikes, as well. Meanwhile, put sellers fetched an average premium of $0.85 for the July $15 strike contracts and $0.70 apiece on the sale of Aug. $12.5 strike puts. Traders selling put options on the medical device maker walk away with premium in hand as long as shares in MAKO exceed the strike prices described through expiration.
V – Visa, Inc. – Shares in Visa, down 0.60% at $122.92 today but up nearly 20% year-to-date, have held up well so far in 2012 in the face of concerns ranging from…
