HAL is trading $36.35, down 2.6% with IV30⢠up 4.5%. The <a href="http://www.livevol.com/">LIVEVOL⢠Pro Summary</a> is <a href="http://livevol.blogspot.com/2010/11/hal.html">in the article</a>. <img src="http://www.livevolpro.com/help/images/blog/hal_summary.gif" /> I found this stock using a real-time custom scan. This one hunts for low vols. <b>Custom Scan Details</b> Stock Price >= $7 IV30⢠>= 1 IV30⢠- HV20⢠<= -8 >= -40 HV180⢠- IV30⢠>= 7 Average Option Volume >= 1,200 Days After Earnings >= 32 Industry != Bio-tech The snapshot of the scan is included (<a href="http://livevol.blogspot.com/2010/11/hal.html">in the article</a>) in case you want to build it yourself in Livevol Proâ¢. <img src="http://www.livevolpro.com/help/images/blog/low_vol_scan.gif" width="600" /> The goal with this scan is to identify short-term implied vol (IV30â¢) that is depressed both to the recent stock movement (HV20â¢) and the long term trend in stock movement (HV180â¢). I'm also looking for a reasonable amount of liquidity in the options (thus the minimum average option volume), want to avoid bio-techs (and their crazy vol) and make sure I'm not purchasing depressed IV30⢠relative to HV20⢠simply because of a large earnings move. The HAL Charts Tab is included (<a href="http://livevol.blogspot.com/2010/11/hal.html">in the article</a>). The top portion is the stock price, the bottom is the vol (IV30⢠- red vs HV20⢠- blue vs HV180⢠- pink). <img src="http://www.livevolpro.com/help/images/blog/hal_charts.gif" width="600" /> We can see: IV30â¢: 38.04 HV20â¢: 51.51 HV180â¢: 46.51 So, IV30⢠is depressed relative to the short term and long term realized movement of the stock. We can glance at the Skew Tab <a href="http://livevol.blogspot.com/2010/11/hal.html">in the article</a>. I've only included Dec. So, a normal looking skew. Finally, let's look to the Options Tab (<a href="http://livevol.blogspot.com/2010/11/hal.html">in the article</a>). <b>Possible Trades to Analyze</b> Ok, this is really hard for me because I hate buying premium, but here goes. 1. Buy the Dec 36 straddle for $2.88. This purchases ~ 38.5 vol. Keep in mind though, buying Dec vol buys a Thanksgiving break and a relatively slower period in the market. So, buyer beware. 2. Do #1, but sell some of that elevated vol to the downside per the skew chart. Maybe Sell 2 Dec 33 puts @ $0.40 to bring the net debit down to $2.08. The Dec 33 puts are priced at ~ 42.5 vol. One note here, this leaves a pretty small max gain to the downside... 3. Ok, here's a crazy idea. Do the complete opposite. Sell the Dec 36 straddle @ $2.83 and purchase the Dec 35/37 strangle for $1.99. This yields a net debit of $0.84 (MaxGain) with a MaxLoss of $0.16 for 5:1 (ish). Of course, the PnL window is extremely tight. On expo HAL would have to be in ($35.16, $36.84). Someone check that math... 4. A final idea here is to wait for Thanksgiving to come and go and see if any of these trades make better sense next Monday. This is trade analysis, not a recommendation. <b>Follow Live Trades and Order Flow on Twitter: @Livevol_Pro</b> Details, trades, prices, vols, skews, charts here: <a href="http://livevol.blogspot.com/2010/11/hal.html">http://livevol.blogspot.com/2010/11/hal.html</a> Legal Stuff: <a href="http://www.livevolpro.com/help/disclaimer_legal.html">http://www.livevolpro.com/help/disclaimer_legal.html</a>