The basis for today’s Tool Box filter is the Schaeffer’s put/call open interest ratio (SOIR). This ratio monitors open interest levels of puts and calls for all options with less than three months until expiration. Readings above 1.00 indicate that bearishly oriented put options are more popular among speculative options traders, while readings below 1.00 [...]

With expectations mounting heading into last weekend’s release of Palm Inc.’s (NASDAQ: PALM) Pre smartphone, options traders began to waver in their normally bullish leanings. Specifically, the stock’s Schaeffer’s Volatility Index (SVI) has jumped to 117.95% compared to the stock’s one-month historical volatility of 88.47%. This significant skew indicates that options are expensively priced in [...]

With the advent of Cyber Monday, Internet-services specialist Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM) has received a considerable degree of attention on Wall Street. According to Hoover’s, Akamai enables companies and government agencies to deliver Web content and applications, such as ads, business transaction tools, streaming video, and Web sites. The firm accomplishes this mighty task through [...]