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If you looked at the overseas trading markets versus the US this morning, this was one of those days that could have gone either way. This followed a financial rescue package for Greece, and also followed the biggest gain in US manufacturing in almost six years, that even with a rise in construction spending. 
Option volume was unusually heavy on Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) Tuesday, with about 31,000 contracts crossing the tape on the satellite radio stock. Overall, call volume rose to 1.71 times the usual level, while put volume climbed to nearly two times the norm. And, interestingly enough, most of the attention was centered on SIRI's January 2012 series of options.
The day's most active strike was SIRI's January 2012 2-strike call, where 14,112 contracts changed hands. About 64% of these contracts traded at the ask price, suggesting a bias toward buying activity, and open interest on this LEAPS option rose overnight by 10,470 contracts -- confirming that new bullish bets were added here on Tuesday.
Continue reading Long-Term Options Popular on Sirius XM Radio
Baseball season is officially under way and it's all a numbers game. Kiplinger has highlighted five stocks that may be in play --- Jarden, Under Armour, PepsiCo, Hibbett Sports and Siriius Radio-- so here is their pitch and my thoughts on taking a swing at any of them.Late Friday, Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) expanded the size of its planned senior notes offering from $550 million to $800 million. The sale of senior notes due 2015 was conducted via private placement, with the notes bearing an annual interest rate of 8.75%. Stakeholder Liberty Media (LCAPA) was slated to buy $150 million of the notes.
The offering is intended to provide Sirius the ability to prepay, in full, all of its borrowings under a senior secured term loan that matures in 2012. The satellite radio company will also redeem notes due 2013, and finance the fees and expenses related to the notes offering.
Continue reading Sirius XM Radio Selling $800M in Notes to Pay Down Debt
"There are certain economic truths that can be used by investors to beat the market. For example, monopolies have tremendous advantages that allow a company to charge above where normal supply and demand; that means big profits for investors," says Jamie Dlugosch.Continue reading Sirus XM (SIRI): An Underappreciated Monopoly
There seems to be some stress afoot in the world of radio broadcasting. A proposed fee, which has been termed a performance tax, now threatens to take a jab at your local country music, or top forty, radio station.Today was one of those days that started out strong and just stayed strong. Spending in January rose 0.5% but outpaced a 0.1% gain in personal income. This morning's strength came on the heels of an overseas stock market rally and that was enough to keep things rolling all day, even if the manufacturing data was lackluster. Here were today's unofficial closing bell levels:
DJIA: 10,403 (+0.76%)
S&P 500: 2,273 (+1.58%)
NASDAQ: 1,115 (+1.02%)
Continue reading Closing Bell: The Upward Momentum Stuck (AAPL, NYT, AIG, SIRI, IPI, OSIP)
Here are some highlights from this past week's earnings coverage on BloggingStocks:
Continue reading Earnings Highlights: Campbell, Dreamworks, Home Depot, Safeway, Target ...
What do you know. Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) on Thursday posted its first quarterly profit since the two satellite radio companies merged. This is after last week its stock finally managed to climb back above $1, a territory it didn't visit since September 2008. 
UnitedHealth (UNH) closed at $33.08. President Obama announced a proposal giving the federal government new power to block excessive rate increases by insurers as part of the health care bill. March put option implied volatility is at 39, June is at 38, versus its 26-week average of 40, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.
Three stocks with IV rise on Feb 22: Sirius Satellite Radio (SIRI) +14%, Sequenom (SQNM) + 11%, Salix Pharma (SLXP) +14%, according to IVolatility.
CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) at 19.94; 10-day moving average is 22.91, 50-day is 21.47, 200-day moving average is 24.95.
Options Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.
Today saw mixed economic data in housing and in industrial production, yet the market rose again. The notion that a fed-exit policy is slowly forming had no significant impact on stocks and mush of the traffic still seems earnings-related. Continue reading Closing Bell: Another Win (BRK.B, SIRI, CSTR, DE, WFMI)
PPI came in at +0.2% and the core PPI was unchanged. This sounded good, but China put the hex on the market by curbing its overextended businesses by asking lenders to stop making loans for the rest of the month. The dollar went higher on Greek woes again, and both the Greek impact on the US dollar strength and the China news took a bite out of commodity prices. Today was one of those days where commodities and the dollar went all over. Gold still rose, yet oil fell on a very mixed inventory report. The markets started out with some strength, but the major indexes were mixed at the end of the day. Continue reading Closing Bell: Mixing the indexes (AAI, COP, RPRX, VG, SIRI)
Today was one of those days where many traders looked like and acted like they wanted to just lock in gains after what was the first full week for many traders in about three weeks. Yet shares stayed strong. Options expiration dates and a S&P rebalance brought in some added volatility and money managers are now scared to tell their clients that they are not all-in on stocks. So while markets were up most of the day, the real closing bell with all of today's events was something that felt as though it would be down to the wire. Continue reading Closing Bell: Options and index re-balance aid bulls (ARNA, AMR, PALM, SIRI, VVUS)
Late Thursday Sirius XM (NASDAQ: SIRI) disclosed it had received a notice from the Nasdaq stock exchange on Tuesday that its share price has closed below $1 for 30 consecutive days, and is therefore not in compliance with the exchange rules. This means it could possibly be delisted.
Sirius has until March 15, 2010, to regain compliance with the minimum bid price rule, meaning its stock has to close at or above $1 for 10 consecutive business days.
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