[QJ] U.S Stock/ETF Watch List on Nov.15th.09

From OPX:

Bullish Flow

Smith International (SII), a Houston based oil and gas driller, finished the day up 39 cents to $29.44 and sentiment in the options market seemed decidedly bullish. Total call volume hit 6210 contracts (compared to about 700 puts). In addition, buyers were dominating the action, as data from WhatsTrading.com indicate that 85 percent of the call activity traded ask-side of the bid-ask spread. December 31 calls were the most actives and included several lots hitting ask-side for 95 cents per contract. By the end of the day, 5,208 had traded, compared to 353 contracts of open interest. Bullish trading also surfaced in Lowe's (LOW), QLogic (QLGC), and Toll Brothers (TOL).

Bearish Flow

Interestingly, while SII saw bullish order flow Friday, Hercules Offshore (HERO), another Houston-based oil and gas company, saw bearish trading. Shares finished the day up 28 cents to $5.56 and the focus was on April puts at the $5 strike. 4842 contracts traded and, with 57 percent of the volume trading ask-side and 1661 contracts of open interest, it looks like put buyers were opening new positions and bracing for a possible move below $5 by the April expiration. Bearish activity also picked up in Quicksilver (KWK), Ciena (CIEN), and Freightcar (RAIL).

Index Trading

The PHLX Bank Sector Index (.BKX) didn't participate in Friday's advance. The index, which tracks the share price action of two dozen banks, fell .16 to 43.14. Meanwhile, options volume in the bank index hit 8X the average daily with 7075 calls and only 1 put traded. January 2010 calls at the 47.5 line were the most actives and it appears that premium sellers were collecting $1.10 per contract and opening new positions -- possibly betting that the index won't rally to 47.5, or 10.1 percent, by the January options expiration (63 days).

ETF Trading

PowerShares US Dollar Index Bullish Fund (UUP) calls saw heavy trading Friday. The fund jumped to $22.80 per share Thursday as the buck bounced against other currencies, but then call sellers surfaced in UUP early Friday after the dollar failed to build on the gains. Heavy trading continued throughout the session. At the closing bell, UUP was down 48 cents to $22.32 and 158,000 calls had traded, compared to about 6200 puts. Call volume outpaced put activity by a ratio of more than 25-to-1.