Quantum Wealth Creation

First Solar, Inc. (FSLR – 14.49) has slumped on the charts this year, surrendering roughly 58% beneath its 10-week and 20-week moving averages. In fact, the solar stock tagged a new all-time low of $13.75 just yesterday. What’s more, it appears at least one options speculator is betting on an extended retreat for FSLR in [...]

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Apparel retailer Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN – 25.73) has found itself in the bearish crosshairs today, as nearly 1,700 puts have been exchanged so far, more than tripling the equity’s expected intraday volume. The bulk of the trading has centered around the near-the-money May 26 strike, where over 1,500 of these puts have crossed — [...]

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11:25 AM New York – CA fourth quarter net gained 13% to $211 million and Copano Energy first quarter net loss widened to $147.7 million. JPMorgan dropped 7% after $2 billion loss linked to derivatives trading. Nvidia first quarter net declined 55% to $60.4 million. Nordstrom first quarter net rose 3% to $149 million. CA, [...]

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11:25 AM New York – Avon said it will respond to the takeover deal from Coty for $10.7 billion. InterOil first quarter net surged more than twelve folds and Seadrill first quarter net plunged 50% to $439 million. Silver Wheaton first quarter net increased 20% to $147.2 million. Avon Products, Inc. (AVP) gained 5.2% or [...]

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Shareholders take JPMorgan and Dimon to court over $2B loss Shareholders filed two lawsuits against JPMorgan Chase and CEO Jamie Dimon in the aftermath of a $2 billion-plus trading loss. The first suit, which alleges securities fraud, comes from an Arizona trust and is seeking class-action status. The second is from an individual investor. Share [...]

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Natural gas prices have been on the rise since mid-April, but this backdrop isn’t helping Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK – 14.89), which has endured a slow burn lower over the past eight months or so. A large-scale options trader thinks Chesapeake’s path of least resistance is to the downside, as evidenced by a sizable ratio [...]

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Call volume on The Cheesecake Factory (CAKE – 31.67) has picked up steam today, with nearly 3,800 of these options changing hands so far — which is 14 times above the norm — compared to fewer than 300 puts. The majority of the 2,200 calls that have crossed at the June 34 strike traded at [...]

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11:25 AM New York – Deere Co. second quarter net soared 17% to $1.06 billion. J. C. Penney first quarter net swung to $163 million loss. Staples first quarter net slipped 6% to $187 million and Target first quarter net rose 1.2% to $697 million and raised the outlook. Abercrombie Fitch Co. (ANF) declined 11.2% [...]

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Put players have made a beeline for Pharmacyclics, Inc. (PCYC – 28.78) today, as more than 4,300 of these options have been exchanged, which is six times the equity’s anticipated intraday volume across all strikes. All of the trading has occurred at the January 2013 18 strike, with the majority of the puts crossing at [...]

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Bullish speculators are favoring Darden Restaurants, Inc. (DRI – 54.14) today, which has seen roughly 18,000 calls trade so far, reflecting an impressive 83 times the equity’s expected intraday volume. Most active has been the May 55 strike, where 7,800 of these calls have been exchanged — the bulk of them at the ask price, [...]

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