LPX – Louisiana Pacific Corporation – Shares in the manufacturer of engineered wood building materials are sprinting higher on Thursday, rallying nearly 15% during morning trading to an intraday high of $17.47, after Louisiana Pacific yesterday announced it will acquire Ainsworth Lumber Co. for C$3.76 per Ainsworth common share in a deal valued at approximately USD $1.1 billion, according to a press release issued by the company. LPX was raised to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ at DA Davidson with a 12-month target price of $20.00 a share today. Trading in November expiry put options this morning suggests one trader may be unraveling a sizable long position in the contracts. Roughly 10,000 of the Nov $16 puts appear to have been sold this morning at an average premium of $0.81 each against open interest of 10,342 contracts. Time and sales data indicates most of the open contracts were purchased at a volume-weighted average price of $1.65 between August 13th and August 21st. The sale of the puts this morning could represent the unraveling of the long put position following the sharp move in the price of the underlying today.
TWI – Titan International, Inc. – Put options purchased on the maker of wheels and tires for off-the-road equipment used in the agriculture, construction, forestry and mining industries this morning look for shares in Titan International to slump to fresh 52-week lows during the next six weeks. Shares today are in positive territory at present, up 0.20% at $16.05 as of 11:55 a.m. ET, though the stock is down more than 20% since this time last year. One trader stepped in to buy 1,000 of the Oct $15 puts during the first 15 minutes of the session, paying a premium of $0.55 for most of the contracts. The put options may be profitable at expiration next month in the event that shares in Titan International decline 10% from the current price to trade below the breakeven point at $14.45. The stock last traded below $14.45 in October of 2011.
