Today’s tickers: VMED, EWZ, HAL, FMCN, VIX, SEED, GLD, CMCSA, SEED, LDK & USG

VMED - Virgin Media, Inc. – Virgin-bulls banked profits and established new positions on the telecommunications company this afternoon amid a 1% increase in shares to $16.54. One investor initiated the closing purchase of 10,000 put options that were originally sold short for an average premium of 68 cents apiece back on October 16, 2009. Today the trader closed out the position by buying the puts for just 15 cents each. Net profits on the trade amount to 53 cents per contract for a total of $530,000. The same investor is likely responsible for putting on a similar bullish strategy in the March 2010 contract. The March 15 strike had 10,000 puts sold short for one dollar per contract. The sale of the put options implies the trader expects shares of VMED to remain above $15.00 through expiration in March. Finally, optimism spread to the March 17.5 strike where 2,685 calls were purchased for an average premium of 1.45 apiece. Call-buyers amass profits if shares of VMED rally another 15% over the current price to breach the breakeven point at $18.95 by expiration day in March. Option implied volatility is currently 8.5% lower to 42.40%.

EWZ - iShares MSCI Brazil Index ETF – A bullish risk reversal on the EWZ in the January 2010 contract indicates investors are positioning for a rally in shares over the next couple of months. Shares of the fund are trading 1.5% higher to $76.28 this afternoon. Traders sold 5,500 puts at the January 77 strike for an average premium of 4.90 apiece in order to finance the purchase of 5,500 calls at the same strike for 3.35 each. The bullish reversal yields a net credit of 1.55 per contract. Investors retain the full 1.55 credit if shares of the Brazil Index ETF trade above $77.00 by expiration in January. Additional profits accumulate to the upside above the $77.00 breakeven price. The 1.55 credit also acts as a buffer against losses to investors in case shares fail to rise up to the strike price described. Investors short the put options stand ready to have shares of the underlying stock put to them at an effective price of $75.45 each if the put options land in-the-money by expiration.

HAL - Halliburton Co. – Near-term bearish option plays on the oil and gas company belie the more than 2%…

Virgin Media Inc. (VMED) declared mixed financial results for the third quarter 2009. Quarterly total revenue of $1,536 million was up 1.3% year-over-year. Third quarter total revenue was also better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,511 million. The company added 8,100 net users in the reported quarter and pushed its customer’s average spend to [...]

(VMED) Virgin Media Remains Challenged

Virgin Media Inc. (VMED) declared mixed financial results for the third quarter 2009. Quarterly total revenue of $1,536 million was up 1.3% year-over-year. Third quarter total revenue was also better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,511 million. The company added 8,100 net users in the reported quarter and pushed its ...

Virgin Media Inc. (VMED) declared mixed financial results for the third quarter 2009. Quarterly total revenue of $1,536 million was up 1.3% year-over-year. Third quarter total revenue was also better than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,511 million. The company added 8,100 net users in the reported quarter and pushed its customer's average spend to a record high level. However, net loss, in the same quarter was $96.8 million or 29 cents per share compared to a net loss of $232.8 million of 72 cents per share in the prior-year quarter. Third quarter net loss of 29 cents per share was well below the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss 19 cents per share.

Quarterly cost of sales was $646 million compared to $756 million in the prior-year quarter. Quarterly operating expenses were $804.6 million compared to $927.8 million in the year-ago quarter.

Consumer Segment
Overall quarterly revenue from the Consumer segment was $1,250.4 million, up 2.5% year-over-year. On-net (fiber optic cable) revenue was $1,011 million, an improvement of 5.3% over the prior-year quarter. ARPU (average revenue per user) from On-net services also increased 5.3% to $71.3 in the reported quarter. Quarterly Broadband subscriber net addition was 39,000, TV net addition was 37,000, and Telephony net addition was 16,000. Average monthly On-net churn remained stable year-on-year at 1.5%. Mobile revenue, in the third quarter, was $216 million, down 7.8% year-over-year. Mobile contract net additions in the reported quarter were 88,000. Quarterly Off-net (non-cable) revenue was $23.2 million, down 3.4% year-over-year.

Business Segment
Overall Business segment revenue, in the third quarter, was $230.9 million, down 6.6% year-over-year. The high-margin Retail data revenue was $89.3 million, up 12% year-over-year. Retail voice revenue was $71.4 million, down 6.7% year-over-year. LAN solutions revenue was $12.3 million, down 44.1% year-over-year. Wholesale revenue was $58 million, 16.3% year-over-year.

Content Segment
Quarterly revenue of this segment was $54.8 million, up 10% year-over-year.
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Today’s tickers: ILMN, USB, CCJ, BSX, VMED, SPY, GME & QSFT

ILMN - Illumina Inc. – The biotechnology firm’s shares slipped 3% today to $42.48. Profit-taking by one investor pushed the ILMN ticker symbol onto our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner. It appears the trader originally sold 5,000 puts short at the November 35 strike for 95 cents apiece back on September 22, 2009. Today, the investor closed out the short position by buying the put options back for 25 cents each. Net profits enjoyed on the closing purchase amount to 70 cents per contract for a total of $350,000. Next, the investor reestablished a short put position by selling 5,000 puts at the November 40 strike for an average premium of 1.12 apiece. The full 1.12 premium may be fully pocketed by the trader if shares of ILMN remain higher than $40.00 through expiration.

USB - US Bancorp. – Options activity in the near-term November contract suggests at least one investor anticipates greater volatility in the price of USB shares through expiration. Shares of the financial holding company edged 1% lower this afternoon to $23.56. A long strangle play took place through the purchase of approximately 2,000 puts at the November 23 strike for an average premium of 65 cents each, and the purchase of 2,000 calls at the November 24 strike for about 73 cents apiece. The strangle cost the investor a net 1.38 per contract to implement. The transaction may prove to be profitable to the trader if shares of USB either shift above the upper breakeven point at $25.38, or if the stock moves beneath the lower breakeven price of $21.62, by expiration day. Volatility on USB rose 13% from an intraday low of 31% to a high of 35.5%.

CCJ - Cameco Corp. – The world’s second-largest producer of Uranium experienced a more than 5.5% rally in shares during the trading session to $31.31. Shares in a number of uranium companies rose after an Australian newspaper revealed BHP Billiton Ltd. declared force majeure on uranium and copper sales from its Olympic Dam mine. Force majeure is a contract provision that excuses a supplier from liability due to uncontrollable circumstances. In this case, a BHP mine in South Australia will be out of commission for at least a month due to mechanical difficulties. Investors expecting shares of CCJ to rally higher purchased near-term call options 2,500 times at the November 35…