Today’s tickers: NTAP, AXP, MOS, SEPR, GM, JNPR, ROK, VIX, TGT & TCK

NTAP NetApp, Inc. – Option implied volatility has skyrocketed from yesterday’s value of 56% to the current reading of 74% as merger fever has set its sights on the company. Shares have jumped more than 10% to $16.47 today, attracting many a bullish option trader hungry for some hot call action. Option volume has risen above 103,000 contracts on the day, with 3.65 calls traded for each put in action. The April 17.5 strike price saw some 10,700 calls purchased for 32 cents each while calls as high up as the April 22.5 strike were coveted for 5 cents per contract. More volume was seen building on the call side in the May contract with 9,100 calls bought at the May 17.5 strike for an average premium of 79 cents. Again, the most bullish traders selected the May 22.5 strike and picked up 3,700 calls for 16 cents apiece. Shares would need to continue to rally by 38% in order for the 22.5 strikes to land in-the-money by expiration. When looking for downside protection, investors clustered at the April 16 strike price and scooped up 7,400 puts at an average premium of 58 cents per contract.

AXP American Express Company – The global payments and travel company has enjoyed a 3.5% share price rally to $15.54 after it received an upgrade from Citigroup yesterday following Goldman Sachs’s decision to remove AXP from its ‘conviction sell’ list on Friday. Investor bullishness was apparent at the April 17 strike price where about 5,200 calls were purchased for an average of 20 cents apiece. Other optimists were observed picking up 1,000 calls at the April 19 strike price at a price of 5 cents per option contract. Volatility on the stock is on the rise, up from the low for the day of 82% to the current value of 89%.

MOS The Mosaic Company – The producer of potash and animal feed has made a comeback since this morning with its shares currently up 5% to $45.15 after having fallen 4% in pre-market trading. Shares started down due to disappointing third-quarter results, which revealed that profits declined dramatically to just 13 cents a share as compared with $1.17 per share one year ago. The company’s CEO, James T. Prokopanko, is looking for Mosaic’s financials to improve in the fourth quarter. Perhaps the optimism expressed by the…
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