Bullish Call on Lubrizol Ahead of Deal Drives Big Payday

  Today’s tickers: LZ, AFL, CIGX & TSL LZ  - Lubrizol Corp. –  It looks like a well-timed bullish bet on Lubrizol Corp. initiated in April contract calls less than one week ago paid off big time for one options strategist following the announcement of Berkshire Hathaway’s $9 billion acquisition of the specialty-chemicals company this morning. Shares in Lubrizol Corp. shot up as much as 27.3% during the session to hit an intraday and all-time high of $134.20, which is just 80 pennies shy of the $135.00 a share deal reported today. Options volume on the stock is heaviest at the April $110 strike where one trader appears to have raked profits in off of the table within the first 20 minutes of the opening bell. Open interest patterns at that strike suggest around 2,650 calls were picked up for an average premium of $2.35 per contract back on March 9, 2011, when shares in the Lubrizol closed the session at a $106.55. The purchase of the calls, which were the closest-to-the-money contracts available at the time of the transaction, cost the investor around $622,750. Since then, news of the deal with Berkshire Hathaway sent shares in the chemical company soaring, driving up the value of the now deep in-the-money April $110 call options. It looks like the investor sold the 2,650 calls this morning at a premium of $23.90 per contract. Net profits on the sale amount to $21.55 per contract, or a grand total of $5,710,750. Lubrizol’s overall reading of options implied volatility came crashing down today, and currently stands 88.3% lower at 3.75% as of 11:35am in New York. AFL  - Aflac, Inc. –  Shares in the U.S.-based insurance provider, which provides health and life insurance to a large portion of the Japanese population, fell 3.80% to $53.44 by 1:00pm in New York trading. The stock earlier declined more than 6.0% to touch down at an intraday low of $52.12. Investors bracing for further bearish movement in Aflac’s shares picked up April $50 strike…