Equity Clock

Market Sentiment: Options Activity for July 21, 2010

A reasonable gauge of market sentiment is the Put/Call Ratio. This is the ratio of the volume of put options to the volume of call options. Alternatively, open interest can be used in the calculation, as opposed to volume.

The ratio has become a commonly used indicator to determine if investors are bearish or bullish on a particular investment. When the Put/Call ratio is greater than 1 it is indicative of a bearish sentiment with Puts exceeding Calls. Conversely, a ratio less than 1 would mark a bullish sentiment with Calls exceeding Puts.

Contrarians use this ratio as a market timing indicator by gauging investments that may be overly bearish (high ratio) as a sign that the market is close to bottoming and buy on the expectation of a rebound. Conversely, if the market has become overly bullish (low ratio) investors would interpret this as an indication that a top is near and sell as a result. The ratio is more indicative when greater than 1, bearish sentiment, as it is more common that investors purchase call options over puts.

Today’s Options Action at market close:

• Total Volume Put/Call Ratio: 1.01 
• Index Volume Put/Call Ratio: 1.90
• Equity Volume Put/Call Ratio: 0.64 

Equities with the highest volume put/call ratio (Overly Bearish Sentiment)

1. WAL MART STORES (WMT) – Volume Put/Call Ratio: 6.18 – Open Interest Put/Call Ratio: 1.48
2. SAFEWAY STORES INC (SWY) – Volume Put/Call Ratio: 5.22 – Open Interest Put/Call Ratio: 9.15
3. Zions Bancorporation (ZION) – Volume Put/Call Ratio: 5 – Open Interest Put/Call Ratio: 3.92
4. F5 Networks, Inc. (FFIV) – Volume Put/Call Ratio: 3.78 – Open Interest Put/Call Ratio: 2.02
5. BEST BUY CO INC (BBY) – Volume Put/Call Ratio: 3.74 – Open Interest Put/Call Ratio: 1.53
6. WESTERN DIGITAL CP (WDC) – Volume Put/Call Ratio: 3.63 – Open Interest Put/Call Ratio: 2.3
7. Apollo Group, Inc. (APOL) – Volume Put/Call Ratio: 3.38 – Open Interest Put/Call Ratio: 0.58
8. Skyworks Solutions, Inc. (SWKS) – Volume Put/Call Ratio: 2.65 – Open Interest Put/Call Ratio: 0.49
9. Arch Coal, Inc. Common Stock (ACI) – Volume Put/Call Ratio: 2.58 – Open Interest Put/Call Ratio: 0.9
10. PROCTER GAMBLE CO (PG) – Volume Put/Call Ratio: 2.48 – Open Interest Put/Call Ratio: 0.89

Equities with the lowest volume put/call ratio (Overly Bullish Sentiment)

1. UNION PACIFIC (UNP) – Volume Put/Call Ratio: 0.13 – Open Interest Put/Call Ratio: 0.75
2. BOSTON SCIENTIFIC CP (BSX) – Volume Put/Call Ratio: 0.15 – Open Interest Put/Call Ratio: 0.52
3. Oracle Corporation (ORCL) – Volume Put/Call Ratio: 0.18 – Open Interest Put/Call Ratio: 0.67
4. A K STEEL HLDG CORP (AKS) – Volume Put/Call Ratio: 0.19 – Open Interest Put/Call Ratio: 0.42
5. CITIGROUP INC (C) – Volume Put/Call Ratio: 0.22 – Open Interest Put/Call Ratio: 0.35
6. XEROX CP (XRX) – Volume Put/Call Ratio: 0.24 – Open Interest Put/Call Ratio: 0.52
7. COCA COLA CO THE (KO) – Volume Put/Call Ratio: 0.27 – Open Interest Put/Call Ratio: 0.75
8. PFIZER INC (PFE) – Volume Put/Call Ratio: 0.27 – Open Interest Put/Call Ratio: 0.53
9. NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) – Volume Put/Call Ratio: 0.27 – Open Interest Put/Call Ratio: 0.41
10. LOWES COMPANIES (LOW) – Volume Put/Call Ratio: 0.28 – Open Interest Put/Call Ratio: 0.28

**Note: Ratios indicated above use volumes and open interest of current month option contracts

Stocks mentioned in this post: BSX, ORCL, SWY, UNP, WMT, ZION