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Paul Foster
Chicago U.S.A. - http://

Paul Foster, a knowledgeable researcher has 21-years of professional experience in the capital markets, investments, trading, corporate finance, arbitrage, options and mergers and acquisitions.

Hansen Medical (NASDAQ: HNSN) said economic conditions have led to lower than expected Q4 sales. HNSN, a developer of products for robotic catheter-based technologies, closed at $6.26. Thomas Weisel Partners has a $8 price target on HNSN. HNSN February call option implied volatility is at 115, puts are at 133, above its 26-week average of 69, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH), a drug wholesaler and medical-equipment supplier, lowered its full-year outlook on January 8 because it sees reduced hospital spending. Smith Barney has a 12-month price target of $39 on CAH. February option implied volatility of 49 is above its 26-week average of 41 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Becton Dickinson (NYSE: BDX), a medical technology company, closed at $69.11. Morgan Stanley raised its rating on BDX to Overweight. BDX February option implied volatility of 38 is above its 26-week average of 33, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Thinkorswim (NASDAQ: SWIM) will be acquired by TD AmeriTrade (NASDAQ: AMTD). At closing, each shares of SWIM will be exchanged for $3.34 in cash and 0.3980 of an AMTD share. SWIM January 5 straddle closed at $1.00, February 5 straddle closed at $1.50. SWIM overall option implied volatility of 78 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

AMTD says it "expects the transaction to be accretive by approximately three to seven percent of fiscal 2010 GAAP earnings and 10 to 15 percent 12 months following the completed integration." AMTD January option implied volatility is at 68, February is at 73; above its 26-week average of 67 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

OptionXpress (NASDAQ: OXPS) closed at $13.32. OXPS January option implied volatility is at 64, February is at 59; near its 26-week average of according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price fluctuations.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Satyam (NYSE: SAY) is recently trading at $1.44 in pre-open trading, below its close of $9.35. SAY Chairman Ramalinga Raju resigned after saying he falsified earnings and assets at India's fourth-largest software services provider. SAY January option implied volatility closed at 121, February at 114; above its 26-week average of 87, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

Infosys (NASDAQ: INFY), a technology services firm based in India, closed at $26.60. INFY is scheduled to report Q3 EPS on January 12. INFY January 27.5 straddle is priced at $2.80, February 27.5 straddle is priced at $4.90. February option implied volatility of 63 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Wipro Ltd (NYSE: WIT), a technology services company based in India, closed at $8.41. WIT is expected to report Q3 EPS in mid January. WIT February call option implied volatility is at 78, puts are at 86; near its 26-week average of 80, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Southern Peru Copper (NYSE: PCU) closed at $18.12 Monday. Copper is recently up 5.31% to 153.65 according to Bloomberg. PCU February option implied volatility of 83 is above its 26-week average of 78, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Teck Cominco (NYSE: TCK), a diversified mining company, closed at $6.82 Monday. TCK January 7.5 straddle is priced at $1.60, December 7.5 straddle is priced at $2.60. TCK February option implied volatility of 121 is above its 26-week average of 110 according to Track Data, suggesting larger share price movement.

Freeport McMoRan (NYSE: FCX) closed at $28.22 Monday. FCX, the world's second-largest copper producer, is expected to report Q4 EPS in mid January. February call option implied volatility is at 87, puts are at 84; near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Arch Coal (NYSE: ACI) closed at $18.50 Friday. ACI January and February option implied volatility of 87 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Massey Energy (NYSE: MEE), a coal miner, closed at $16.19 Friday. MEE is scheduled to report Q4 EPS in the February option cycle. MEE February option implied volatility of 108 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price fluctuations.

Consol Energy (NYSE: CNX) closed at $32.15 Friday. CNX has two principle business units: coal and gas. CNX February option implied volatility of 90 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Alpha Natural (NYSE: ANR), an Appalachian coal producer, closed at $18.38 Friday. ANR February option implied volatility of 107 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU), a coal company, closed at $25.06 Friday. BTU is expected to report Q4 EPS in late January. January and February option implied volatility of 97 is above its 26-week average of 89, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Proshares UltraShort Real Estate (NYSE: SRS) closed at $50.71 Wednesday. SRS seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice the inverse daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index. SRS January option implied volatility is at 140, below a level of 180 from mid December. February volatility is at 137; above its 26-week average of 129, according to Track Data.

Ultra Financials ProShares (NYSE: UYG) closed at $6.03 Wednesday. UYG daily investment results correspond to twice the daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index. UYG January option implied volatility is at 91, below a level of 118 from last week; March is at 109 according to Track Data, suggesting March movement.

Powershares DB Multi Sector Commodity Trust (NYSE: DBA), a rules-based index consisting of agricultural futures contracts, closed at $26.18 Wednesday. January option implied volatility of 43 is near its 26-week average of 41, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

UltraShort S&P 500 ProShares (NYSE: SDS) closed at $72.71 Tuesday. SDS seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice the inverse daily performance of the S&P 500. SDS overall option implied volatility of 74 is near its 26-week average of 71, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

UltraShort QQQ ProShares (NYSE: QID) closed at $58.37 Tuesday. QID seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice the inverse daily performance of the NASDAQ-100 index. QID overall volatility of 77 is below its 26-week average of 84 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

UltraShort Financials ProShares (NYSE: SKF) closed at $111.16 Tuesday. SKF is an exchange traded fund seeking daily investment results that correspond to twice (200%) the inverse (opposite) of the daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index. SKF January option implied volatility of 110 is near its 26-week average of 104, according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Mosaic (NYSE: MOS) plans to issue its Q2 earnings on January 5. MOS is hosting an analyst meeting on January 13, 2009. January option implied volatility of 96 is below a level of 121 in mid December and above its 26-week average of 90, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing movement compared to a two-weeks ago.

Chevron (NYSE: CVX) closed at $71.55 Monday. CVX is expected to report Q4 EPS on January 8. Crude oil futures are recently down 1.67% to $39.35 according to Bloomberg. CVX January option implied volatility of 44 is below a level of 60 from two-weeks ago and near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement compared to two weeks ago.

KB Home (NYSE: KBH) is scheduled to report Q4 EPS before the open on January 9. KBH January option implied volatility of 105 is below a level of 131 from two weeks and near its 26-week average of 100 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement compared to two weeks ago.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Rohm and Haas (NYSE-ROH) is recently trading at $48.66 in pre-open trading, below its close of $63.56. ROH, the acquisition target of Dow Chemical (NYSE-DOW), lost access to $9 billion of Kuwait financing. January option implied volatility of 146 is above its 26-week average of 29, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

DOW is recently trading at $18.00 in pre-open trading, below its close of $18.92. Smith Barney says, "DOW should be looking to protect its shareholders by cutting the ROH deal at a lower price or walking away from the deal by paying a break up fee." DOW January option implied volatility of 59 is above its 26-week average of 49, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Volatility Index S&P 500 Options-VIX at 43.38; 10-day moving average is 48.26.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Only two and half of the next six days will be trading days. The time value of an option's premium, which the option holder has "purchased" when paying for the option, decreases with the passage of time. With the market closed in three and half of the next six days, long option premium positions have less time to move to a profitable outcome.

Volatility Index S&P 500 Options - VIX at 44.56; 10-day moving average is 52.04.

Volatility Index NASDAQ 100 - VXN at 41.90; 10-day moving average is 49.87.

NASDAQ 100 - QQQQ overall implied volatility at 44; 26-week average is 46 according to Track Data.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Focus Media (NASDAQ: FMCN), a Chinese digital advertising company, closed at $10.98. January option implied volatility of 132 is above its 26-week average of 106, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

SINA Corp (NASDAQ: SINA), a Chinese online media company, closed at $29.24. SINA January option implied volatility is at 63; March is at 70; above its 26-week average of 61, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement in early spring.

Shanda Interactive (NASDAQ: SNDA), an interactive entertainment media company in China, closed at $30.33. SNDA January option implied volatility of 66 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Petrobras (NYSE: PBR), a Brazilian oil conglomerate, closed at $23.07. Crude oil futures are recently down 6.10% to $34.01 a barrel according to Bloomberg. PBR January option implied volatility of 87 is above its 26-week average of 73, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) closed at $77. XOM January option implied volatility of 52 is above its 26-week average of 33, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

Chevron (NYSE: CVX) closed at $73.03. CVX January option implied volatility of 60 is above its 26-week average of 47, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) closed at 51.54. COP January option implied volatility of 66 is above its 26-week average of 51, according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

IBM (NYSE: IBM) closed at $85.84. IBM is expected to report Q4 EPS in mid January. IBM January and April option implied volatility of 46 is above it's above its 26-week average of 38 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) closed at $31.86. JPM is expected to report Q4 EPS in mid January. JPM January option implied volatility is at 90, March is at 84; above its 26-week average of 67 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) closed at $58.78. JNJ is expected to report Q4 EPS in late January. JNJ January and April option implied volatility of 38 is above its 26-week average of 30 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is recently down $3.53 to $91.90 in pre-open trading. Steve Jobs has pulled out of his annual address at Macworld on January 6. Oppenheimer says: "Maybe he's not feeling well, or maybe he just has nothing new to say." AAPL January option implied volatility of 69 is above its 26-week average of 56 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Volatility Index S&P 500 Options - VIX at 52.36; 10-day moving average is 57.66 according to Track Data.

NASDAQ 100 - QQQQ overall implied volatility at 51; 26-week average is 46.

Semiconductor Holders Trust - SMH overall volatility at 59; 26-week average is 47.

Russell 2000 - IWM overall implied volatility at 67; 26-week average is 47.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

UltraShort S&P 500 ProShares (NYSE: SDS) is recently trading down 84 cents to $88 in pre-open trading. SDS seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice the inverse daily performance of the S&P 500. SDS January option implied volatility of 94 is above its 26-week average of 68 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

UltraShort QQQ ProShares (NYSE: QID) is recently down 1.95 to $68.35 in pre-open trading. QID seeks daily investment results that correspond to twice the inverse daily performance of the NASDAQ Index-100 Index. QID January option implied volatility of 108 is above its 26-week average of 87 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

UltraShort Financials ProShares (NYSE: SKF) is recently is recently down $2.97 to $127.89 in pre-open trading. SKF is an exchange traded fund seeking daily investment results that correspond to twice (200%) the inverse (opposite) of the daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index. SKF January option implied volatility of 155 is above its 26-week average of 99 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com