STOCKS NEWS US-Players eye Texas Instruments Oct $20 puts

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1100 ET 23June2009 Texas Instruments draws likely premium sellers
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Texas Instruments (TXN.N) shares fell 1.8 percent to $20.60 in late morning
trade and the TXN October $20 put strike is one of the busiest equity options
contracts on Tuesday morning as 21,990 contracts crossed the tape, according to
Reuters data. One top trade was 395 contracts on the bid-side for a premium of
$1.63 on the CBOE. It looks like premium sellers are driving the flow in the
October $20s and $19 put strikes, where another 11,500 lots traded earlier,
said WhatsTrading.com option strategist Frederic Ruffy. The October $19 put
contract volume increased to 23,825, Reuters data showed. The earlier action is
possibly closing, as significant open interest exists in both contracts, Ruffy
said. But he noted the stock's option implied volatility has moved up to 40
percent, from about 38.5 percent on Monday and recent trades include a sweep of
1,078 October $19 put strikes at the offer for $1.22. TI makes chips for
everything from cellphones to industrial equipment.

Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1052 ET 23June2009-Acura shares tumble after Acurox news
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Shares of Acura Pharmaceuticals (ACUR.O) tumbled on Tuesday, dropping after
it said its experimental pain drug, Acurox, would not be approved on the
scheduled action date of June 30, based on a review letter from U.S. health
regulators.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's comments were preliminary and do
not reflect a final decision on the information reviewed or a review of the
entire new drug application, Acura said, citing the letter.

For details, see [ID:nBNG409299]

The stock tumbled 29 percent to $5.36.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net; Editing by
Kenneth Barry
1044 ET 23June2009-Markets fall as Boeing, housing data weigh
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Major U.S. stock indexes fell on Tuesday, slipping after Boeing Co (BA.N)
again delayed the first test flight of its Dreamliner aircraft and after
housing data pointed to a sluggish economic recovery.

For details, see [ID:nN23276095]

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI fell 0.4 percent to 8,301.97 while
the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.3 percent to 890.63 and the Nasdaq .IXIC was off
0.5 percent to 1,757.50.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1036 ET 23June2009-BofA sets $2.54 bln stock swap
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Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) on Tuesday proposed to issue $2.54 billion of
common stock in exchange for existing preferred stock, in an effort to raise
capital demanded by federal regulators.

The largest U.S. bank is offering to exchange up to 200 million common
shares, at an average price of $12.7048 per share, for shares from as many as
nine preferred stock issues.

Bank of America said the offering will help it meet the $33.9 billion
capital buffer required by the U.S. government following a "stress test" of the
bank's ability to weather a deep recession.

For details, see [ID:nN23542865]

Shares of the Dow component rose 1.9 percent to $12.17.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1026 ET 23June2009-FedEx rises after upgrade, lifting UPS
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Shares of FedEx Corp (FDX.N) rose on Tuesday, after JPMorgan upgraded the
shipping company to "overweight" from "neutral" because "its strong operating
leverage should drive performance for the stock when there is improvement in
the economy."

The firm added that bad news regarding current pressures on the stock were
already reflected in the share price, and that analyst estimates on FedEx "have
finally come down sufficiently that current consensus expectations are
realistic."

The stock gained 2.4 percent to $51.23 while United Parcel Service (UPS.N)
gained 0.8 percent to $47.19.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1017 ET 23June2009 Credit Suisse suggests Butterfly put spread on S&P 500 ETF
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Investors who want to hedge against a broader market fall or employ a
directional bearish position can benefit from an unusually steep skew in the
S&P 500 fund (SPY.P) by purchasing a SPY butterfly put spread, said Credit
Suisse equity derivatives strategist Sveinn Palsson.

In a note issued on Monday, he recommended an August SPY $90/$80/$70 put
butterfly -- buying the $90 put and $70 put and selling 2X the $80 put for a
net $1.85. The reference price was $89.84. The trade is profitable if the
exchange-traded fund closes between $88.15 and $71.85 at August expiration.
Maximum payout is $10 if the ETF closes at $80, while the max drawdown is the
premium paid. The trade is neutral to changes in the absolute volatility level.

Despite the apparent consolidation of the S&P 500 in the 900 area, and the
stabilization of the VIX index around 30, index skew continues to steepen,
reflecting the strong demand of out-of-the-money puts vs. calls. Thus, the SPY
two-month skew is approaching the highs of fourth quarter 2008 and first
quarter 2009, he said.

Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net