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Company Offers Financial Services to Businesses Providing Clean Technology

Share prices of some of the top companies continue to show weakness for the second day today. The volumes of these stocks also remained quite low, probably as a result of investors heading out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Citigroup Inc (NYSE: C) continued to follow its weak trend after showing some strength on November 18. Citi's shares are currently trading at $4.20, after falling by 1.29% since the start of the day. Citi's volume is low, with little more than 95 million shares traded so far.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) shares broke their uptrend on November 18. Wells Fargo's shares are currently trading at $27.83, after slipping by 1.74% since the start of the day.Wells Fargo's volume has been low, trading 29.67 million shares, which is very short of the average of 47.42 million.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) shares have been showing continued weakness from November 16, when the share price touched $34.50. Morgan Stanley's shares have declined by 0.40% so far today to trade at $32.18. Morgan Stanley's volume is also weak, with just over 7.5 million shares traded since the start of the day.

Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE: GS) shares had remained steady over the week before succumbing to the weakness in the markets on November 19. Goldman Sachs's shares are currently trading at $171.09, after slipping by 1.01% so far during the day. Goldman Sachs volume so far today stands at 5.5 million shares traded.

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Warren Buffett, the CEO and Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A)/(BRK-B), announced on Thursday to borrow $8 billion of loan for the acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (BNI). Berkshire Hathaway, which already owns a 22% stake in Burlington Northern, announced earlier this month it would acquire the rest for a ...

After almost a year of initiating the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to rescue the nation’s financial industry, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Thursday that it would auction off stock warrants it acquired from three big banks that received a significant portion of taxpayers’ money and have fully repaid the same. The [...]

(JPM) Treasury to Auction TARP Warrants

Warren Buffett, the CEO and Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA)/(BRKB), announced on Thursday to borrow $8 billion of loan for the acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (BNI). Berkshire Hathaway, which already owns a 22% stake in Burlington Northern, announced earlier this month it would acquire the rest for a total value of $34 [...]

(BRKA) Berkshire Hathaway Borrows for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Acquisition

Warren Buffett, the CEO and Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)/(BRK.B), announced on Thursday to borrow $8 billion of loan for the acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (BNI). Berkshire Hathaway, which already owns a 22% stake in Burlington Northern, announced earlier this month it would acquire the rest for a total value of $34 billion. Buffet agreed to pay $100 a share in cash and stock to buy the rest of the company.[More...]

Today’s tickers: WFC, IYT, RYL, YHOO, XLE, MU, ADCT, KBH, DELL, NE & GPS

WFC - Wells Fargo & Co. – Shares of the financial holding company surrendered 1.5% today to stand at $27.88. One investor initiated a sold straddle on WFC in the April 2010 contract. The trader sold 10,000 calls at the April 32 strike for 1.59 apiece in conjunction with the sale of 10,000 now in-the-money puts at the same strike for 5.81 each. The gross premium on the transaction amounts to 7.40 per contract. The investor will retain the full premium if shares settle at $32.00 by expiration. The premium received acts as a buffer against losses in the event that shares swing in either direction away from the $32.00-level. However, the trader will accumulate losses if shares breach the upper breakeven price of $39.40, or if shares decline beneath the lower breakeven point at $24.60, by expiration in April.

IYT - iShares Dow Jones Transportation Average Index ETF – The exchange-traded fund, which measures the performance of the transportation sector of the U.S. equity market, appeared on our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner this afternoon after one investor initiated a bearish put play. Shares of the fund moved 0.5% lower to $70.53 during the session. The trader established a put spread by purchasing 5,000 puts at the December 70 strike for 1.80 each, and by selling the same number of puts at the lower December 65 strike for 40 cents apiece. The net cost of the trade amounts to 1.40 per contract and provides downside protection beneath the breakeven price of $68.60 down to $65.00 through December’s expiration.

RYL - The Ryland Group, Inc. – Shares of homebuilder and mortgage-finance company, Ryland Group, declined nearly 4% this afternoon to stand at $18.86. Investors exchanging options on the stock today spread pessimistic sentiment through to expiration December. Traders sold 10,000 calls at the December 19 strike for an average premium of 1.10 apiece. The full 1.10 premium pocketed by investors is retained in full as long as shares of RYL remain below $19.00 through expiration day. Call-sellers do not seem to expect that shares of Ryland will recover before the start of 2010.

YHOO - Yahoo!, Inc. – We observed two different option strategies in play on Yahoo this afternoon. A large-volume sold strangle in the January 2011 contract suggests shares are likely to remain stagnant through expiration. The transaction involved the sale…

Schaeffer's Andrea Kramer takes a look at unusual option activity on the Street

Schaeffer's Andrea Kramer takes a look at unusual option activity on the Street

Schaeffer's Andrea Kramer takes a look at unusual option activity on the Street

Schaeffer's Andrea Kramer takes a look at unusual option activity on the Street

Schaeffer's Andrea Kramer takes a look at unusual option activity on the Street