Options
Put Volume Swells in Junk Bond Fund

Put Volume Swells in Junk Bond Fund

Options traders seem to be bracing for downside in junk bonds as negativity sweeps financial markets. The iShares High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG) is having its worst month in over three years as investors shun leveraged companies. The largest options trade so far...

Bearish Leverage at Work In Energy Space: Options Recap

Bearish Leverage at Work In Energy Space: Options Recap

Give me leverage, or give me death. That was the message from a big options trade yesterday. Transocean (RIG) has plenty of leverage on its own. Over $9 billion of debt and $2.3 billion of cash plants it firmly in the junkyard of bond ratings. ("B3" at Moody's.) As an...

Can This Social Media Stock Double in the Next Year?

Can This Social Media Stock Double in the Next Year?

A social-media stalwart got hammered yesterday, and someone positioned for a major rebound. Twitter (TWTR) fell almost 9 percent about halfway through the morning. As it clawed its way back to cut those losses, a trader amassed about 80,000 January 2020 70 calls for...

Is the Nightmare Over? Options Trader Sees Huge Rebound

Is the Nightmare Over? Options Trader Sees Huge Rebound

October was a painful month, but now a big options trader is looking for the entire selloff to reverse. Here's a breakdown of the massive call volume detected yesterday morning in the market-tracking SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY): A block of 75,000 December 288 calls was...

Options Trader Sees No Happy New Year for Ailing Blue Chip

Options Trader Sees No Happy New Year for Ailing Blue Chip

Someone seems to think this year's worst-performing S&P 500 member won't have a happy New Year. Here's a breakdown of a large options trade in General Electric (GE): A block of 12,500 December 8 puts was sold for $0.79 and an equal number of December 7s was bought...

Options Trader Braves Volatility in Media Giant

Options Trader Braves Volatility in Media Giant

Damn the volatility -- full speed ahead. That seemed to be the message from one big options trader in Comcast (CMCSA) yesterday: A block of 5,669 23-November 35 puts was bought in the middle of the afternoon for just $0.02. Volume was below open interest, which...

Brazil Bull Looks for Carnival Rally: Options Recap

Brazil Bull Looks for Carnival Rally: Options Recap

Someone's looking for a Carnival rally in Brazil's top bank, with the help of an unusual options strategy. Shortly after lunch on Friday, a trader sold 10,180 June 17 puts in Itau Unibanco (ITUB) for $3.58. At the same second, he or she bought exactly the same number...

Bears Are Digging for Downside in This Space

Bears Are Digging for Downside in This Space

Bears are digging for downside in gold miners, one of the worst-performing major industry groups this year. More than 23,000 December 11 puts were bought yesterday in Barrick Gold (ABX). The first blocks changed hands for $0.10 but premiums rose to $0.12 as the bids...

Support and Resistance at Play on Some Key Charts

Support and Resistance at Play on Some Key Charts

Support and resistance may be at play on some key charts. In case you don't know, support and resistance are important price levels where buyers and sellers tend to be active. Traders often use them to decide when to enter or exit positions. One technique is to buy a...

Bulls Clean Up with Consumer Giant: Options Recap

Bulls Clean Up with Consumer Giant: Options Recap

Someone's cleaning up as consumer staples defy the market selloff. Just look at Procter & Gamble (PG), whose brands include Tide laundry detergent, Bounty paper towels and Dawn dish-washing liquid. It's one of the best-performing members of the Dow Jones...