Tuesday’s Vital Data: Apple Inc. (AAPL), Walt Disney Co (DIS) and Ford Motor Company (F)

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U.S. stock futures are hovering around breakeven this morning, as Wall Street debates its options ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s first press conference since July. Investors are growing concerned about the content of today’s press conference, prompting the Dow Jones Industrial Average to retreat further from the much-anticipated 20,000 level yesterday.

Tuesday’s Vital Data: Apple Inc. (AAPL), Walt Disney Co (DIS) and Ford Motor Company (F)Heading into the open, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average are off 0.1%, S&P 500 futures have dipped 0.03% and Nasdaq-100 futures have edged 0.02% lower.

On the options front, volume arrived below average on Monday, as only about 12.4 million calls and 10.3 million puts traded yesterday. Over on the CBOE, the single-session equity put/call volume ratio whipsawed to a one-week low of 0.62, though the 10-day moving average held pat at 0.66.

Turning to Monday’s volume leaders, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) option volume jumped after Morgan Stanley named the company a “top pick” for 2017, while Walt Disney Co’s (NYSE:DIS) “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” topped the box office for the fourth straight week — attracting heavy call volume. Finally, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) unveiled both new and old offerings at the Detroit Auto Show this week to a mixed reception.

Tuesday’s Vital Options Data: Apple Inc. (AAPL), Walt Disney Co. (DIS) and Ford Motor Company (F)

Apple Inc. (AAPL)

AAPL stock broke out above its October highs in the $118 region yesterday, riding high on the latest round of bullish comments out of Morgan Stanley. On Friday last week, Morgan Stanley named Apple a “top pick” based on pent-up demand for the iPhone and potential incoming tax breaks from President-elect Donald Trump.

The Trump reasoning is well known, with the incoming President expected to slash corporate tax rates and offer incentives for companies to bring home hoards of cash stored overseas. But the pent-up iPhone demand is based on slow consumer uptake of the iPhone 7 due to lack of impressive design and features.

Morgan Stanley believes the iPhone 8 will remedy that situation.

Options traders were quick to jump on AAPL calls Monday morning. More than one million contracts traded on AAPL stock, with calls snapping up 67% of the day’s take — well above average for the shares. Looking out to January 2017, AAPL is trading north of peak call and put open interest at the $115 strike, but more than 171,000 calls still reside overhead at the $120 strike. With the right tailwind, AAPL has a shot at besting this hurdle, which could give rise to another bull run for the shares.

Walt Disney Co. (DIS)

The Force is strong with “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” Disney’s blockbuster new Star Wars movie has topped the box office for the fourth-straight week in a row. However, analysts noted that the film brought in only $31 million in its Chinese debut, well short of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” total of $53 million.

On another note, analysts at RBC Capital Markets upgraded Disney stock from “sector perform” to “outperform” on Friday, providing additional lift for the shares.

DIS options traders piled into calls on Monday, with the typically bullish bets making up 77% of the more than 190,000 contracts traded yesterday. A good portion of this call volume was made up by a 20,000-unit calendar spread at the Feb. $110 and June $120 strikes. According to Trade-Alert.com, a trader purchased the June $120 calls for $1.63 and sold the Feb $110 calls for $2.32 for a net credit of 69 cents, or $69 per contract.

The trade is a play off falling implieds, where the price of the Feb. option is expected to decline faster than those on the June option. It can also profit if DIS holds below $110 through Feb. expiration, and then rallies through the summer.

Ford Motor Company (F)

The Detroit Auto Show is in full swing, placing automakers front and center on Wall Street. Ford took the opportunity to announce that both the Bronco SUV and Ranger light pickup truck were making comebacks in 2020 and 2019, respectively. Ford also said that it was focusing heavily on electric and autonomous vehicles, which it touted as being as significant as the invention of the assembly line.

F stock options traders weren’t as jazzed about the company’s display at the Auto Show as industry rags were, however. Of the more than 171,000 contracts traded on F stock yesterday, some 61% were puts as traders reacted to the stock’s 1% drop back below former resistance at $13.

That said, optimism continues to ride high on the shares, with Ford’s total Jan. 2017 put/call open interest ratio currently resting at 0.63.

As of this writing, Joseph Hargett did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2017/01/tuesdays-vital-data-apple-inc-aapl-walt-disney-co-dis-ford-motor-company-f/.

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