Unusual Options Activity

Trader bets on bounce in shares next month. Over 1,050 contracts traded on the March $136 call options on The Walt Disney Company (DIS). This is an eight-fold rise from the prior open interest of 135 contracts. The option, expiring in 22 days, is a play on shares moving $5 higher from around $130 right now. That’s about a 5 percent jump. Shares have sold off heavily recently as coronavirus fears are likely to impact tourism and travel, in turn lowering revenues at ...
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Trader bets on further decline on coronavirus pandemic.  With the global economy set to slow thanks to the coronavirus, traders are hedging their bets. One is betting that United Parcel Service (UPS) will continued to decline from here. That’s based on the 15-fold rise in volume on the April $97.50 put options. From 320 open contracts, over 4,900 recently traded hands. The bet expires in 51 days. It is less than one dollar out-of-the-money thanks to the current share price just ...
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Trader bets on rally through April.April 3rd call options with a $70 strike on Gilead Sciences (GILD) recently saw an 18-fold rise in volume, going from 117 open contracts to over 2,100 trade hands. The bet, expiring in 38 days, is that shares will head higher. As shares are around $69.50, the bet is almost at-the-money, and could move dollar-for-dollar higher with shares. The buyer of the option paid about $2.71 per contract, so shares would need to get over $72.70 at ...
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March 27th $22 call options on
Barrick Gold (GOLD) saw a 32-fold rise in volume lately, going from 103 open contracts to nearly 3,300. The bet, expiring in 32 days, will move in-the-money if shares rise just over $1.15 from their current price, or about 5.5 percent higher. The buyer of the options also paid about $0.38, or $38 per contract to make the trade. They’ll need to see shares move 7.3 percent higher in the next month. The interest in gold continues after ...
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March 13th 2020 call options with a strike price of $167.50 on
3M (MMM) recently saw a 40-fold rise in volume. From 220 open contracts, over 8,800 traded hands. The bet, expiring in 21 days, is that shares will rally from here. The strike price of the option is about 5.1 percent higher than the current share price. The buyer of the option also paid about $0.98 per contract, so shares would need to clear $168.50 at expiration to profit. Shares of the Read More About This

Put options expiring in April with a $10 strike price on
Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA) saw a nearly-10-fold rise in volume. The option went from under 700 contracts to over 6,800. The bet, expiring in 57 days, is just over 20 percent out-of-the-money, as shares trade just over $12. The buyer of the put option also paid about $0.35 per contract, so shares would need to drop to about $9.65 to profit at expiration. Shares of the pharmaceutical giant have dropped ...
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February 28th $123 call options on
Paypal (PYPL) recently saw a 44-fold rise in volume. Over 7,010 contracts traded against a prior open interest of 161. The bet, expiring in 10 days, is right at-the-money, given a recent share price of $122.99. It should move dollar-for-dollar upward with shares, less the time premium. The buyer of these options paid about $2.00 each, so shares will need to hit $125 by the end of the month to profit. Shares of the alternative payment company have ...
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December 2020 $37 put options on
AT&T (T) recently saw a 10-fold rise in volume. Over 1,600 contracts traded on an option that had a prior open interest of just 156 contracts. The bet expires 304 days. For the bet to move in-the-money, AT&T shares will need to drop about $1.25 from their current price near $38.25. That’s about 3.3 percent. The buyer of the puts also paid about $2.37. Ultimately, shares will need to trade closer to $35 to profit at expiration. That’s ...
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