Filed under: Deals, Good news, JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Options, Technical Analysis, Bear Stearns Cos (BSC)
JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) shares are trading higher on news that shareholders of Bear Stearns Cos. (NYSE: BSC) have approved JPM’s $2.2 billion buyout of the investment bank. JPM will purchase BSC for about $10 a share. The deal is expected to become official tomorrow. If you think that the stock won’t fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on JPM.
After hitting a one-year high of $52.31 last Might, the stock hit a one-year low of $36.01 in March. JPM opened this morning at $42.69. So far today the stock has hit a low of $42.29 and a high of $44.06. As of 12:15, JPM is trading at $43.79, up 0.93 (2.2%). The chart for JPM looks bullish and deteriorating, while S&P gives the stock its highest 5 Stars (out of 5) strong buy rating.
For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a July bull-put credit spread below the $37.50 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the buy and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn’t do what you think but still leverage nice returns. For this particular trade, we’ll make a 11.1% return in just seven weeks as long as JPM is above $37.50 at July expiration. JPMorgan would have to fall by more than 14% before we would begin to lose money. Learn more about this type of trade here.
JPM hasn’t been below $7.50 at all in the past year except for a short time in March and has shown support around $42 recently. This trade could be risky if the financial sector suffers some more in the coming months, but even if that happens, that position could be protected by support the stock might find just above $40, where it bottomed out twice in the past two months.
Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer.
DISCLOSURE: Mr. Archer owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that might include holdings in companies he writes about. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in JPM or BSC.
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