S&P 500 - Risers Pulte Homes Inc. (PHM) $10.04 +6.13% Lennar Corp. Class A (LEN) $15.17 +6.08% KB Home (KBH) $15.56 +5.99% D R Horton Inc. (DHI) $12.30 +5.18% M B I A Inc. (MBI) $3.69 +4.83% Marshall & Ilsley (MI) $5.48 +4.77% N Y Times Class A (NYT) $9.07 +4.61% Sun Microsystems Inc. (JAVA) $8.49 +4.17% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) $13.66 +4.04% Developers Diversified Reality (DDR) $8.84 +3.88% S&P 500 - Fallers Macy's Inc. (M) $17.83 -8.23% Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) $34.63 -5.38% Gamestop Corp. (GME) $24.14 -4.13% American International Group Inc. (AIG) $36.24 -3.59% Owens-Illinois Inc. (OI) $33.90 -2.45% Southwestern Energy (SWN) $44.42 -2.40% Motorola Inc. (MOT) $8.64[More...]

Owens-Illinois, Inc. manufactures and sells glass containers primarily in Europe, North America, the Asia Pacific, and South America.[More...]

Today’s tickers: LAMR, SVU, DIS, CHRW & OI

LAMR Lamar Advertising Company – Shares of the outdoor advertising company have remained relatively flat and currently stand at $16.92 today. LAMR appeared on our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner after one investor appears to have taken a bullish stance on the stock in the June contract. It looks as though this individual sold about 5,100 puts at the June 12.5 strike price for an average premium of 58 cents apiece in order to fund the purchase of some 5,100 calls picked up at the June 20 strike for 1.32 each. The net cost of getting long of the calls amounts to 47 cents. In order to profit from the bullish position shares would need to rally by about 21% to the breakeven point located at $20.47 by expiration.

SVU Supervalu, Inc. – The grocery retailer has climbed by about 1% to $16.51 per share. We observed some investors taking a bullish position on the stock by selling about 1,400 puts at the June 15 strike price for about 72 cents each in order to fund the purchase of 1,400 calls at the June 17.5 strike for an average premium of 65 cents. The trade results in a 7 cent credit to the investor who is looking for shares to climb by 6% from the current price in order for the calls to land in-the-money by expiration. The same strike prices described above were also targeted by a trader who appears to have established a sold strangle by shedding approximately 3,600 puts at the June 15 strike for about 72 cents while also selling the same amount of calls for 68 cents each at the June 17.5 strike. The strangle strategy yields a gross premium of 1.40 and will be fully retained by the investor if the share price remains ‘strangled’ between the two strike prices. The trader would face losses at any share price below the breakeven to the downside at $13.60 or at any price above the breakeven to the upside at $18.90.

DIS The Walt Disney Co. – Shares have declined by about 3% to $21.20 today amid news that the entertainment company plans to obtain a 27% stake in the third most popular video website, Hulu.com. The DIS ticker jumped onto our ‘most active by options volume’ market scanner after one investor fiddled with put options in the June contract. It appears…

Today’s tickers: MAS, HES, WHR, ORCL, NVAX, BMRN, TIVO & OI

MAS Masco Corporation – The manufacturer and distributor of home improvement and building products has experienced a share price decline of more than 2% to $9.85 ahead of its earnings report scheduled for release after the market closes today. One option investor took a decidedly bearish stance on the stock by selling short 10,000 calls at the May 10 strike price for an average premium of 69 cents per contract. On the put side, some 2,700 contracts were purchased for an average of 24 cents apiece at the May 7.5 strike price as investors appear to be looking to profit from continued downward movement in shares by expiration in May. In order to profit to the downside, shares would need to continue to fall by another 26% from the current price to breach the breakeven point at $7.26.

HES Hess Corporation – Shares of the global energy company have dipped by more than 3% to $54.34. Despite the share price erosion, option traders have been getting bullish on the stock by jumping into calls in the May contract. The May 65 strike price had more than 6,100 calls purchased for an average premium of 53 cents apiece while the May 70 strike attracted a smaller volume of some 1,800 calls picked up for 30 cents each. We are not certain of the motivation for the increased option activity on the stock today, but we did notice one news report which stated that Credit Suisse posited Hess Corp. was unlikely to be acquired by Exxon. Option implied volatility on the stock jumped as high as 61% today up from the closing value on Friday of 51%.

WHR Whirlpool Corporation – The home appliances manufacturer has jumped more than 8.5% to stand at $44.28 per share. Earlier in the day shares were up 20% – the biggest intraday climb for WHR in at least 29 years – after the company reported first-quarter earnings that beat analyst expectations. The company has cut costs as well as curtailed a post-retirement benefit plan which added about 84 cents to earnings surprising the street which had anticipated a loss of 18 cents per share for the company. Whirlpool also reported that it expects to earn a profit of between 3 to 4 dollars for 2009. Option traders gobbled up the bearish breakfast and were seen buying some 3,000 puts at…