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As I looked for such a situation, I came across Paramount (PARA). The reason I like it here is because it is "in play" and will thus likely hold up in price, even if the overall market continues lower. What's more, there is a deal on the table that could offer much more upside and, at the very least, keep the stock from falling much in the coming weeks.
(Source: IVolLive)
PARA has been a lackluster performer, trading in a range of between 11-17 over the last year. As you can see, though, it has also been relatively immune to the market's overall moves during that time. At present, the company has received a joint bid from Sony Pictures Entertainment (SONY) and Apollo Global for about $26 billion - almost four times the current valuation. But the company's management is already entertaining an offer from Skydance Media for $5 billion, which is lower than its current valuation.
Normally, it would seem like a no-brainer for shareholders to drop the current deal and take the much more generous one from Sony/Apollo. But it's more complicated than that for Paramount, where the Redstone family controls 77% of the voting stock and favors the Skydance deal.
To me, this presents a stock with limited downside risk, potentially significant upside opportunity, and a relatively immune posture to the rest of the market. That spells a covered call, diagonal call spread, or short put strategy.
At Wednesday's closing prices a few of the potential covered call writes using slightly in or out-of-the-money strikes look like this:
(Source: IVolLive)
These are the conservative, short-term call writes. Should the Redstones even consider the Sony/Apollo bid, the stock could trade considerably higher. So, a mix of covered writes at higher strikes might be well worth a shot as well.
Got a question or a comment?
We're welcome your questions or feedback about the option strategies. If there is something you would like us to address, we're always open to your suggestions.
By Richard Lehman, IVolatility.com
(Source: IVolLive)
PARA has been a lackluster performer, trading in a range of between 11-17 over the last year. As you can see, though, it has also been relatively immune to the market's overall moves during that time. At present, the company has received a joint bid from Sony Pictures Entertainment (SONY) and Apollo Global for about $26 billion - almost four times the current valuation. But the company's management is already entertaining an offer from Skydance Media for $5 billion, which is lower than its current valuation.
Normally, it would seem like a no-brainer for shareholders to drop the current deal and take the much more generous one from Sony/Apollo. But it's more complicated than that for Paramount, where the Redstone family controls 77% of the voting stock and favors the Skydance deal.
To me, this presents a stock with limited downside risk, potentially significant upside opportunity, and a relatively immune posture to the rest of the market. That spells a covered call, diagonal call spread, or short put strategy.
At Wednesday's closing prices a few of the potential covered call writes using slightly in or out-of-the-money strikes look like this:
(Source: IVolLive)
These are the conservative, short-term call writes. Should the Redstones even consider the Sony/Apollo bid, the stock could trade considerably higher. So, a mix of covered writes at higher strikes might be well worth a shot as well.
Got a question or a comment?
We're welcome your questions or feedback about the option strategies. If there is something you would like us to address, we're always open to your suggestions.
By Richard Lehman, IVolatility.com