der Server pennt mal wieder total!
blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2008/07/16/...w-longs-getting-hungry/
For the time being at least, investors are starting to bet more heavily on a short-term rally in financial shares. Options activity in financial-sector exchange-traded funds has bounced sharply in the last few days, and today it is being buoyed by positive news out of Wells Fargo and the SEC’s plan to limit short-selling in certain financial companies.
Among the leading ETFs today is the Ultra Financials ProShares ETF, which trades under the symbol UYG, and the Financial Select Sector SPDRs, or XLF, which have gained 11% and 6.1%, respectively.Volume in the UYG has increased dramatically in the past few days. Average daily volume over the past three months comes to about 24.5 million shares, but more than 105 million shares traded on Tuesday, and about 24.5 million shares have already changed hands Wednesday as of 11:30 a.m. ET.
Furthermore, call option activity has increased sharply. More than 15,000 July call options have traded Wednesday, compared with average trading volume in all call contracts of about 3,800, according to Jon Najarian, co-founder of Optionsmonster.com.
“A lot of folks covering short positions have done so for the last three sessions,” says Mr. Najarian, who says they were frightened Friday on rumors that Fed officials were considering allowing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to access the discount window. “Some of the shorts who have feasted realized that over the weekend, these Fed guys are going to be getting together and doing something, and they started flipping positions around.”
The UYG seeks to return double the Dow Jones U.S. Financial Index, that is, a move in that index is matched by a two-fold increase in the UYG. The XLF’s options volume is also heavy, with more than 70,000 July call contracts changing hands, compared with about 40,000 put contracts.
blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2008/07/16/...w-longs-getting-hungry/
For the time being at least, investors are starting to bet more heavily on a short-term rally in financial shares. Options activity in financial-sector exchange-traded funds has bounced sharply in the last few days, and today it is being buoyed by positive news out of Wells Fargo and the SEC’s plan to limit short-selling in certain financial companies.
Among the leading ETFs today is the Ultra Financials ProShares ETF, which trades under the symbol UYG, and the Financial Select Sector SPDRs, or XLF, which have gained 11% and 6.1%, respectively.Volume in the UYG has increased dramatically in the past few days. Average daily volume over the past three months comes to about 24.5 million shares, but more than 105 million shares traded on Tuesday, and about 24.5 million shares have already changed hands Wednesday as of 11:30 a.m. ET.
Furthermore, call option activity has increased sharply. More than 15,000 July call options have traded Wednesday, compared with average trading volume in all call contracts of about 3,800, according to Jon Najarian, co-founder of Optionsmonster.com.
“A lot of folks covering short positions have done so for the last three sessions,” says Mr. Najarian, who says they were frightened Friday on rumors that Fed officials were considering allowing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to access the discount window. “Some of the shorts who have feasted realized that over the weekend, these Fed guys are going to be getting together and doing something, and they started flipping positions around.”
The UYG seeks to return double the Dow Jones U.S. Financial Index, that is, a move in that index is matched by a two-fold increase in the UYG. The XLF’s options volume is also heavy, with more than 70,000 July call contracts changing hands, compared with about 40,000 put contracts.

