Bulls target Rockwell before earnings-11/06/2009

One trader is positioning for a move higher ahead of Rockwell Automation's earnings report Monday.

optionMONSTER's tracking programs detected heavy buying of the November 45 calls and selling of the November 40 puts. The strategy, broken into several pieces, apparently included buying the calls for about $0.82 and selling the puts for $0.54. It was executed on about 2,600 contracts.

ROK rose 1.58 percent to $43.50 in early afternoon trading. The maker of industrial-control devices more than doubled between March and August, and has been consolidating between $40 and $45 since then.

Today's options trade resulted in a net debit of about $0.28, and will earn profit if the stock rallies above $45.28 by expiration. It will generate losses below $40.

ROK will issue fiscal fourth-quarter earnings before the market opens on Nov. 9. Management will also host an investor meeting at 11:45 a.m. ET on Nov. 12.

ROK reaffirmed its full-year earnings guidance the last time it reported on July 28.

Later in the session, another investor purchased about 1,000 November 45 calls for $1 to $1.10, which also reflects a bullish outlook for the stock.

Overall options volume in ROK is about 13 times greater than average today.

(Chart courtesy of tradeMONSTER)

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