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Netlist, Inc. (NASDAQ: NLST) is beyond amazing… It is becoming baffling how much this stock has run after all of its HyperCloud related trading gains.  We had noted each morning how Netlist’s chart had become a drunkard that would probably ebb and flow after its inflection point had been hit with 25 million shares on Monday and a $6.24 close from $4.47 on the Friday before. This was not even $1.00 early last week. It looks like the inflection point may be today.. or now maybe next week. All we can say is that Netlist is pulling a KTEL for those of you who who were trading in the late 1990’s. At 3:35 PM EST today we have shares going nuts and they took out the 52-week highs of $6,87 from Monday. The highs today took it out and then some by hitting as high as $7.98. Shares are now back down at $7.33 and up 29.3% on a whopping and unbelievable 29,193,054 shares. This is a day trader’s dream. Or a nightmare.
JON C. OGG
DryShips, Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) is seeing some options activity that stands out today, although it is a bit muted by our count considering that the $300 million convertible note offering was juiced up to $400 million and considering the share lending agreement with Deutsche Bank. The action is almost irrelevant in NOV-2009, but the December action is where the options trading looks to be today. The calls are first, and the puts are second.
DEC$   Volume   OpInt.
6.00Â Â Â 2,923Â Â Â 11,666
7.00Â Â Â 9,576Â Â Â 28,535
8.00Â Â Â 3,480Â Â Â 44,912
DEC$   Volume   OpInt.
5.00Â Â Â 1,463Â Â Â 8,528
6.00Â Â Â 4,484Â Â Â 14,286
7.00Â Â Â 1,445Â Â Â 21,313
There have been 5,662 contracts trade in the NOV-2009 $6.00 CALLS (in the money) versus an open interest of 11,341 contracts. The other trading noted was in the March-2010 $7.00 CALLS saw 4,589 contracts trade hands versus an open interest of 7,153 contracts. Interestingly enough, neither one of these seem to be huge bets about hedging on the notes.
JON OGG
Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) has seen an absolute massive butterfly call spread for January 2011 as 50,000 January $20 and $40 calls are bought for $1.94, and 100,000 $30 calls are sold at $0.37, so a $1.20 debit, expecting shares to nearly double over the next year and volatility to come down a bit. Shares are struggling to get above the 50 day EMA here, but this trade is a big institution looking for financials to continue to flourish in a low interest rate environment. A trade of this magnitude is notable, and is also a bullish signal that a large institution is staying bullish the US markets.
For whatever it is worth, there were reports mid-week that billionaire hedge fund operator John Paulson had implied a $29.81 price target for Bank of America out in 2011.
Joe Kunkle, OptionsHawk.com
DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) priced and increased the size of its prior announced offering from $300 million to $400 million in convertible notes issued at PAR with an interest rate of 5% and with an initial conversion price for the convertible notes of $7.19 per share. In short, overhang and dilution. That could unload another 55 million shares equivalent or so if this stock rallies again. DryShips shares are down almost 4% at $6.28 at 8:34 AM EST on 1.25 million shares. Average volume is almost 25 million shares. We won’t bother with a 52-week range because you already know this one is the king of volatility.
JON OGG
The market is selling off sharply today, but no one let the solar stocks know, which are rising sharply higher following positive earnings results and forecasts from SunTech (STP) and Trina Solar (TSL). The rise comes despite oil dipping 2.25% below $80 as that trade has unraveled and solar stocks are actually starting to have a fundamental rationale to investing in them, and are closing in on economic viability. Also, the recent news of subsidies in India is still having a positive impact. Shares of Canadian Solar (CSIQ) and SolarFun (SOLF) are seeing increased bullish call activity today, and are breaking out on a technical basis. However, juggernaut First Solar (FSLR) is down on the day, along with LDK Solar (LDK), so it looks like traders are targeting specific companies in the sector, which is also an unraveling, as usually the entire group trades together, but now momentum and value players are putting money to work, as can be seen by the relative strong shar e volume today.
JOE KUNKLE, OptionsHawk.com
Solarfun Power Holdings Co. Ltd. (NASDAQ: SOLF) has already gone exponential on trading volume. At 11:48 AM EST we have already hit 200% above normal trading with over 4.5 million shares versus an average volume for a full day of 1.4 million shares. To top it off, this marks a 9.6% gain to $7.10 versus a 52-week trading range of $2.27 to $8.95. This is following the Oppenheimer upgrade.
JON C. OGG
Microvision, Inc. (NASDAQ: MVIS) is fighting CMED for the worst performer this morning. This is on a secondary offering. Hares closed at $4.11 and are down over 18% at $3.35 on only about 16,000 shares at 8:51 AM EST. This will be more active as the bell gets closer as there are some 865,000 shares per day and a 52-week range of $0.77 to $5.75.
JON OGG