Today’s tickers: ADM, TRW, RDWR & BPAX
ADM – Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. – Warren Buffet’s comments that Archer-Daniels-Midland is the “kind of company we look at” in regards to hunting for acquisition candidates fueled heavier than normal activity in ADM options, bumped its shares up as much as 1.8% and pushed options implied volatility up 20.7% to 30.82% today. In an interview on Bloomberg Television this morning, Buffet also cited General Dynamics and Exelon Corp. as attractive, but options on those names remain relatively quiet. Shares in Archer-Daniels-Midland, one of the world’s largest processors of corn, wheat, cocoa and other feedstuffs, are up 1.00% at $30.75 just before 1:00 pm on the East Coast. ADM call volume jumped, with calls changing hands roughly 6 times on the stock for each single put option in play. Much of the put activity, though light in comparison to interest in calls, appears to be the work of bullish players selling the contracts to harvest available premium. Investors positioning for shares to extend gains scooped up out-of-the-money calls across several expiries. Call volume is heaviest out at the September $31 strike where more than 14,000 contracts changed hands against 3,476 previously existing open positions. While roughly half of the calls traded to the middle of the market, it looks like at least 5,400 of the contracts were purchased for an average premium of $1.13 a-pop. Call buyers profit if shares in ADM rally another 4.5% to surpass the average breakeven price of $32.13 by September expiration. Nearer-term optimists purchased August $32 and $33 strike calls for premiums of $0.57 and $0.28, respectively. These investors make money if shares climb around 6.0% and 8.2% by expiration next month. Fourth-quarter earnings from ADM are expected to hit the stands on August 2 ahead of the opening bell.…
