股票期货突破技术分析(英文原版)-第30章
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2。
Option activity。is。by。no means。always。initiated by buyers。 For example; there is。quite a large constituency that sells。call options。against stock。they own as。a tool for generating additional ine; and others。who seek。a similar objective by selling puts。against cash。 And some traders。sell uncovered (or 〃naked〃) calls; which is。a bearish bet that a stock。will not rise above the call strike price。 If heavy call activity is。the result of a surge in covered or naked call writing; it certainly would not indicate a wildly bullish investment view。
3。
Option activity can occur in conjunction with trades。(or positions) in the underlying stock。 One example would be when a covered call position is。initiated。 Another would be the purchase of put options。to protect a long stock。position from a major decline; perhaps。ahead of a critical earnings。report。 Option activity that results。from strategies。that involve the underlying stock。(or strategies。that involve the buying and selling of other options。on that stock) can dilute the value of put call ratio analysis。
4。
Hedge funds。in particular use options as part of 〃pairs。trading〃 strategies。 For example; a put option on an energy exchange…traded fund (ETF) might be purchased in conjunction with a long position in Occidental Petroleum (OXY) if the manager feels。that the stock。will outperform its。sector。 So the purchase of the puts。in this。case is。not a reflection of a bearish view on energy but rather a hedge for a bullish view on a particular energy stock。
Considering。the Extremes
So the perception of a put call ratio as。a clear indication of the bullish (or bearish) sentiment of a crowd of unsophisticated traders。is。certainly a flawed one。 But
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bullish contrarian plays。that is。turbo…charged from two standpoints:
1。 A trader will bolster the effectiveness of hisntrarian conclusion。 The major conundrum of sentiment analysis。results。from situations。in which the sentiment simplynfirms。the price action in the stock。 So a stock。that doubles。in price during a one…year period is。very likely to be the object of a fair amount of bullish sentiment simply because the gains。it has registered are likely to have attracted major attention among investors; because everybody loves。a winner。 Technical analysts。will be drawn to the stock。based on the notion that 〃the trend is。your friend〃 and even those with a fundamental bent will likely be swayed by the strength in the shares。and will tend to view the pany's。prospects。more positively。 And; as。technicians。well know; such a powerful move by a stock。often indicates。that there have been (or are about to be) some major positive developments。in the pany's business。 So the task of the contrarian in these situations。bees。the extremely difficult one of attempting to determine whether this。bullish sentiment has。reached a euphoric。extreme that indicates。a serious。depletion of sideline buying power and thus a potential top。
But if a stock。is。exhibiting strong price action and the sentiment remains。skeptical or outright bearish; the task。for the contrarian is。much easier。 Bearish sentiment bined with strong price action is。an unusual situation; indicating with great regularity that an uptrend in a stock。is。relatively。early in the game because there remains。major sideline buying power that can fuel substantial additional gains。
2。 A trader will have 〃structural buying〃 working for him because of the buildup in put open interest and its。subsequent unwinding。 When puts are accumulated on a stock; those who are on the other side of the trade (those who are selling these puts。to the put buyers) must protect themselves。from the open…ended risk。they'll incur should the stock decline substantially。 And they generally hedge their short put exposure by shorting the underlying stock。 But should a strongly performing stockntinue to post outsize gains; these short positions。will begin to be covered as。the put buyers。begin to capitulate and close their positions。 And even if the put positions。remain open; there will be short covering because the hedgers。need to be short fewer and fewer shares。as。the puts。they've sold move farther and farther away from the strike price and (as。time passes) thus have a smaller and smaller chance of ever attaining value。
Here are some detailed examples。of stocks。that exhibited outlier put open interest in bination with strong price action。 Figure 7。1 charts。the price action in AMR Corporation (AMR) along with the 50…day moving average of its。SOIR。 Note the powerful rally in AMR from late 2004 through mid…2005; along with the skeptical option trader sentiment as。reflected in the 50…day moving average of its SOIR as。it crossed above the 1。00 level (as。indicated by the horizontal line)。 This。juxtaposition of strong price action and bearish sentiment provided a very bullish backdrop for the shares。during this period。
The SOIR line crossed with authority above 1。00 in November 2001 and remained in this。zone until June 2006。 During this。period; AMR shares。rallied from the 9。00 area to a high of 29。32。 For more than eighteen months; while the shares were more than tripling; skeptical option traders。were accumulating more AMR put contracts。than call contracts。
In addition to the bearish sentiment of option traders; AMR was。being played very。heavily。on the short side in late 2004。 Short interest in excess。of 50 million shares。equaled almost 25 percent of the pany's。total float。 Although some of this。short interest could be attributed to the heavy put option buying; there was。a clear overall pattern of negative expectations for AMR shares。
When might a technician have felt fortable with buying AMR as。a bullish contrarian play; given this。backdrop of bearish sentiment? Figure 7。2 charts。the weekly price action of AMR along with its。10…week。moving average and provides。a good backdrop for an answer。 The 40…week。moving average is。a widely used barometer among technicians。of whether a stock。is。in bullish or bearish territory。
Figure 7。2 indicates。there were a number of junctures。in late 2004 and early 2005 for entering an AMR long position based on a move above the 40…week。moving average。 Some of these moves。were followed by。pullbacks。that may have stopped the trader out; but an entry in the 9 to 10 area in late March 2005 or perhaps。an entry in October 2005 in the 12 area on the successful retest of the 40…week。would each have been quite legitimate。
Using a move back。below the 40…week。moving average as。an exit criterion; the trader would have exited in July or August 2000 in the 21 to 22 area。 So a technician trading AMR off the bearish sentiment could have achieved something in the area of a double based on a simple 40…week。moving average cross。criterion for entry and exit。
Figure 7。3 presents。a second example; which charts。the price action in Yahoo! (YHOO) along with the 50…day moving average of its。put call open interest ratio (SOIR)。 The SOIR for Yahoo! remained above 1。00 for most of the period from mid…2003 through the end of 2004; during which the shares。tripled from 13 to 30。 This。is once again a juxtaposition of strong price action and bearish sentiment; and it provided a very bullish backdrop for Yahoo! shares。during this。period。 What's。more; Yahoo! was。among the most heavily。shorted Nasdaq shares during this。period; with short interest in the neighborhood of 100 million shares。
Figure 7。4 charts。the weekly price action of Yahoo! along with its。40…week。moving average and shows。the powerful uptrend in Yahoo! shares。during the entire period of excess。put activity from mid…2003 through the end of 2004。 A contrarian trader could have felt fortable in entering a long position at the beginning of this。period and holding it for the entire 200 percent gain; but a few caveats。are in order。
Note in Figure 7;3 that the SOIR for Yahoo! did move below 1。00 for several brief periods。 And although one could argue that Yahoo!'s strong price action would have been more than sufficient to justify retaining the long position in the shares; there was。the potential for a trader to exit the position based solely on the SOIR above the established
1。00 parameter。 Also; the shares