Paper bought 1500 IBB March 150 Puts for $.60 (4.4 times usual volume) when stock was trading $152.96
Paper bought 1200 NBG May 1 Puts for $.15 (4.0 times usual volume) when stock was trading $1.17
Paper bought 1694 CAH April 45 Puts for $.69 (6.0 times usual volume) when stock was trading $46.43
Paper bought 1300 MAR July 38 Puts for $1.70 (2.3 times usual volume) when stock was trading $39.50
Paper bought 900 NIHD April 5 Puts for $.50 (2.3 times usual volume) when stock was trading $5.06

Paper bought 1600 RSG April 30 Calls for $1.775 (4.3 times usual volume) when stock was trading $31.42
Paper bought 39,291 AMTD Aug 23 Calls for $.35 (11.9 times usual volume) when stock was trading $19.72
Paper bought 5000 ETN April 65 Calls for $.90 (2.4 times usual volume) when stock was trading $62.57
Paper bought 1300 HK Jan 2014 10 Calls for $.45 when stock was trading $6.42
Paper bought 550 NM June 5 Calls for $.15 (39.1 times usual volume) when stock was trading $3.93

Paper bought 39,291 AMTD Aug 23 Calls for $.35 (11.9 times usual volume) when stock was trading $19.72
Paper bought 13,326 JCP April 17 Calls and Sold April 12 Puts for $.38 (2.6 times usual volume) when stock was trading $15.18
Paper sold 6009 MTG March 5 Puts for $.38 (5.0 times usual volume) when stock was trading $5.14
Paper sold 2000 RDN Jan 2014 10 Puts for $1.81 (2.8 times usual volume) when stock was trading $10.49
Paper sold 4240 PPL April 30 Straddles fir $2.50 (12.4 times usual volume) when stock was trading $31.25

The chart below displays the price of long HLF and short JCP…the opposite of Mr. Ackman. Over the last few trading days, the price of the pair has nearly doubled, meaning pain for Mr. Ackman, but the billionaire is probably not very concerned with day-to-day fluctuation, for according to his analysis, there are structural and fundamental drivers behind the trade…high conviction.

Some folks, like Carl Icahn, smell the potential for a short squeeze in HLF. Mr. Icahn, who goes way back with Mr. Ackman, has taken the other side of the HLF trade. Additionally, JCP may be a way to watch HLF too, for the two have seemed to have an inverse relationship. Either way, this Wall Street drama is far from over.

HLF-JCP Displayed below.

salerno.mark.a@gmail.com

Paper bought 900 LOPE April 20 Puts for $.35 (3.7 times usual volume)
when stock was trading $23.70
Paper bought 223 MCK May 97.5 Puts for $1.05 (3.7 times usual volume)
when stock was trading $107.13
Paper bought 507 TFM March 40 Puts for $.55 (10.5 times usual volume)
when stock was trading $44.86
Paper bought 465 ADTN March 22 Puts for $1.30 (3.0 times usual volume)
when stock was trading $21.03
Paper bought 700 CQB Aug 3 Puts for $.15 (7.3 times usual volume) when
stock was trading $5.97

Paper bought 3000 CMCSK April 40 Calls for $.40 (2.9 times usual
volume) when stock was trading $38.39
Paper bought 1000 AMCX June 65 Calls for $1.20 (9.9 times usual
volume) when stock was trading $57.26
Paper bought 900 DOX July 37.5 Calls for $.80 (3.8 times usual volume)
when stock was trading $36.33
Paper bought 900 HOGS June 12.5 Calls for $.74 (2.4 times usual
volume) when stock was trading $12.76
Paper bought 2762 TROX April 22.5 Calls for $.50 (4.9 times usual
volume) when stock was trading $20.36

Paper bought 1080 MTG April 4.5 Calls for $.31 (3.8 times usual
volume) when stock was trading $4.18
Paper bought 7500 STX April 35-38 Bull Call Spread for $.47 when stock
was trading $31.97
Paper sold 13,000 MT Sep 15-16 Bear Call Spread for $.31 (4.7 times
usual volume) when stock was trading $14.04
Paper sold 1000 HL June 3.5 Put- June 5 Calls for $.27 (4.7 times
usual volume) when stock was trading $4.11
Paper bought 1400 STP March 1 Puts for $.20 (2.0 times usual volume)
when stock was trading $1.29

Now enter NYT and NWS. While traders can’t specifically trade the Omaha World-Herald, for example, News Corp and The New York Times will do. These two stocks are essentially two massive media conglomerates and content creators across the vast spectrum of entertainment and media outlets. “News, to put it simply, is what people don’t know that they want to know,” said Mr. Buffett in his letter. Mr. Buffett is referring to the ability to create content that gains traction in the public. This difficulty ever increasing in the click skeptical Internet generation and may be a part of his long-term bearish thesis.

It is difficult to find a pure play in the daily newspaper space like Mr. Buffett was referring to in his letter without getting parts of another business. These media giants are so diversified these days that shorting them may be a bad idea considering their big portfolios.

NYT displayed below.

salerno.mark.a@gmail.com