New Terror Attack Gearing Up?

[Tombstone]

This was a blip that caught my eye this morning:

'Bin Laden' Options Trades Have Wall Street Whispering

As if the mortgage-market meltdown isn't enough to spook investors, some market players are worrying about unusual options bets that some observers have dubbed "Bin Laden Trades."

The blogosphere and options trading desks have been rife with speculation about these trades, which are unusually large bets that the market will make a huge move in the next month. Some entity, or entities, has taken a large position on extremely deep in the money S&P 500 options, both puts and calls, that won't pay off unless the market undergoes an extremely large price move between now and the options' expiration on Sept. 21.

The positions in question have left option industry experts perplexed to come up with a rational explanation for the trades, which are far from the best or most efficient way to profit from what would be outlier events.

Those worrying about the worst-case scenario are recalling that large put contracts were placed on airline stocks, notably American, a unit of AMR and United Airlines, in the weeks leading up to the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

The first area of focus is that open interest on September 700 S&P puts is 116,000 contracts, an unusually high number for such a low-probability trade. A put is a defensive bet that gives the holder the right to sell a security at a specified price, in this case more than 50% below the S&P 500's current level of 1463 as of Wednesday's close.

Rest of story here: http://www.thestreet.com/_htmlbtb/newsa ... 77063.html

Hat tip: www.thestreet.com:

[Kathy Ellen]

Tombstone, I wake up every day hoping it's not going to be a nightmare from terrorists. We just constantly have to be observant and careful.

[JacksDad]

Try this one on for size.

Situated within a dense forest at the foothills of the Catskill Mountains on the outskirts of Hancock, New York, Islamberg is not an ideal place for a summer vacation unless, of course, you are an exponent of the Jihad or a fan of Osama bin Laden. The 70 acre complex is surrounded with "No trespassing" signs; the rocky terrain is infested with rattlesnakes; and the woods are home to black bears, coyotes, wolves, and a few bobcats.





Springtime in Islamberg

Radical Muslim paramilitary compound flourishes in upper New York state

[Dutch]

There are some dates in September coming up that could give expression to underlying themes with keywords such as 9/11, Pearl Harbor, Hirhoshima/dirty bomb,flight 522 crash in Greece, the assassination of Rafik Hariri. At least that's what my 'research' seems to indicate. Especially these dates seem interesting:

September 8 for the Hariri/Syria situation and the period September 10-15 for the other themes. I don't predict an high impact event, a subtle event (conditioning) is just as valid.