Amex credit card refund dents investor confidence
By Andrew Wilkinson
24 February 2009 @ 05:10 pm EDT
AXP – American Express – According to confirmed reports in the media, AmEx is offering some clients $300 to pay down their credit card balance and close their accounts with the company. Investors are in no mood for business model rethinks that lead to lower revenues in this climate and have sold shares in the company 1.9% to $11.92 creating a fresh 52 week low for the share price. Option traders were quick to the party and sold calls expiring in March at the 12.5 and 15.0 strikes around 5,000 times earlier. In the April contract investors appeared to have sold puts at the 10.0 and 7.5 strikes but likely tied to stock according to our reading of the tape. In that case the investor shorts the underlying and writes put premium to enhance the yield on the position and also offers an exit strategy should the share price reach the strikes at expiration in which case the investor has the short position reversed when shares are put back to him.