Semiconductor Options Stage a Strong Rally

Amid a rumor mill that's heaving and out of breath, options investors bellied up to Wall Street's betting table Thursday to poke around the chips -- the options, that is. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, or SOX, recorded an intraday high Thursday as a result.

"There was a lot of easy money made in the past five years in the options market, just deals, deals and more deals," said Michelle Hiller Skupp with Miller Tabak in New York. "But now the froth is out of the market. It's much harder to make money."

So it was back to the building blocks like chip and chip-equipment companies. The SOX started its rally Tuesday and then hit an all-time intraday high Thursday of 543.6. September 550 calls on the SOX were up 1 3/4 ($175) to 15 ($1,500), and the September 560 calls were up 1 1/8 ($112.50) to 10 1/8 ($1,12.50). ...