Unusual Options Activity

Credit card companies have seen their shares bounce, but if consumers stop paying the bills, it’s a space that could be in for some trouble. Yet one trader still sees upside ahead for the sector with a bet on Visa (V). The bet? The September 2021 $200 calls. Over 16,900 contracts traded against a prior open interest of 453, for a 37-fold increase in volume. The trade, expiring in 323 days, will move in-the-money if shares rise about 10 percent from their ...
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At least one trader is betting that oil giant BP (BP) will head higher despite reporting its fifth-quarterly loss in a row on Tuesday. The trader bought the December 18th $15 call options, expiring in 51-days. The options are about $0.50 in-the-money and should move penny-for-penny higher with shares. The options saw over 10,700 contracts trade against a prior open interest of 432, a 25-fold rise in volume on the trade. The option buyer paid about $1.20 for the contract. With the ...
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Shares of Cisco (CSCO) have been trending down the past few weeks. One trader betting that shares still have another 14 percent to decline. That’s the logic behind the move in the November 20th $32.50 puts. Over 8,800 of the contracts traded against an open interest of 22, for a 40-fold rise in volume. The option expires in 24 days, and from the current share price near $37.50, would require a 15 percent drop in shares to move in-the-money Cisco next reports ...
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One trader sees a rally in the next month in Kennedy-Wilson (KW), a real estate company with a focus on multi-family properties. The November 20th $15 calls, expiring in 25 days, saw over 3,300 contracts trade against a prior open interest of 127. That’s a 26-fold rise in volume, a very unusual move for such a small company. The buyer paid $0.30 for the option, on average. Shares would need to rise about $1.00, or 6.3 percent from their price near $14 ...
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At least one trader sees some big downside ahead for Occidental Petroleum (OXY). That’s based on the 23,860 contracts traded on the February 2021 $8 put. With shares around $9.80, that implies a 19 percent decline in the next 119 days. The prior open interest on the option was 1,107 contracts, making for a 21-fold rise in volume. The trader also paid about $0.74 for the option. Shares would therefore need to hit $7.30 at expiration to profit. Shares of Occidental have ...
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Although shares of Sibanye Stillwater (SBSW) are at a 52-week high, one trader sees shares moving even higher. The April 2021 $15 calls on the company saw a 20-fold rise in volume. Over 2,580 contracts traded hands against a prior open interest of 127. The bet, expiring in 176 days, is that the precious metals mining company will rise another $1.50 from its current price near $13.50. The calls will move in-the-money on a further 11 percent move in shares. The buyer ...
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Shares of Swiss bank UBS Group AG (UBS) had a decent day on Tuesday, as the bank reported its strongest third-quarter earnings in a decade. Traders see more upside ahead. That’s shown by the 16-fold rise in volume on the August 2021 $12.50 calls. The options saw over 1,650 contracts trade against a prior interest of 101. The option is at-the-money, meaning the trade should rise dollar for dollar with any move higher in the bank’s stock. The option expires in 303 ...
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One of the top-performing stocks of the past year, at least one trader sees a drop ahead for Nvidia (NVDA). That’s evidenced by the January 2022 $450 puts. Over 1,060 contracts traded hands, a 6-fold rise over the 180 contracts with open interest. Expiring in 458 days, the bet would move in-the-money if shares dropped 18 percent from their current price around $548 per share. The trader paid about $58.50 per contract on average. The graphics processing company is up 181 percent ...
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