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Schaeffer's Options Update: Microsoft Attracts Heavy Put Volume Ahead of Earnings

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^{Published in Science and Technology on Tuesday, January 20th 2009 at 11:17 GMT, Last Modified on 2009-01-20 11:18:17 by Market Wire}  

CINCINNATI--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--After the market closes on Thursday, Jan. 22, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is scheduled to slip into the earnings confessional to release its fiscal second-quarter performance. Currently, analysts are expecting the world's leading software developer to report a profit of 49 cents per share, a penny shy of last year's results. Historically, MSFT has bested Wall Street's views in 3 of the prior 4 reporting periods, with an average upside surprise of 3.88%.

Heading into the report, options traders have piled into put positions, as the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.79 ranks above 89% of all those taken during the past year. What's more, the International Securities Exchange (ISE) and Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) 10-day put/call ratio is higher than 80% of all those taken during the prior 52 weeks, underscoring this preference for bearish bets.

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