Unusual Options Activity

Traders bet high oil prices will persist this month.
The January 31st $40 call option on
BP (BP), saw a 16-fold rise in volume, going from 186 open contracts to nearly 3,000 contracts trade hands. The bet, with shares of BP trading right around $40, will pay off should oil prices continue to trade higher and the energy company goes with it. The call buyer paid about $0.76, or $76 per contract, so BP shares would need to trade to $40.76 to profit at ...
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Traders bet on 10 percent jump by late February.
The February 21st 2020 $21 call options on
Plains GP Holdings (PAGP), saw a whopping 148-fold surge in trading volume. From 124 open contracts, volume saw over 18,400 contracts trading hands. The bet, with shares trading just over $19, implies about a 10 percent move higher for shares in the next 46 days. The call buyer paid just $0.30, or $30 per contract. If shares stay under $21, they will expire worthless. If shares move over ...
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Traders bet on rally this month.
January 24th call options on
Conoco Phillips (COP) with a $66 strike price saw a 34-fold rise in trading volume. Going from 108 open contracts to nearly 3,700, the trade is a bet that shares can move at least $0.50 higher from their current price around $65.50. The call buyer paid just under $1.50 per share for the option, so a move to $67.50 will allow the trade to profit at expiration. Shares of Conoco Phillips have been rallying ...
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Traders bet on drop in shares in 2020.
The January 2021 $87.50 put options on
Texas Instruments (TXN) saw a six-fold increase in volume in trading, going from 104 open contracts to seeing over 630 trade hands. The bet, which has 380 days to play out, would move in-the-money if shares fell by about one-third from their current price near $128. Traders paid about $2.10, or $210 per contract on average, making for an inexpensive market hedge that could soar in value on a ...
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Traders bet on drop in shares in the next 9 days.
The January 10th $126 put options on
Target (TGT) saw a five-fold surge in volume, going from 434 open contracts to over 2,050 trade hands. Expiring in just 9 days, the bet will pay off if shares of the retailer, which gained over 90 percent in 2019, will drop just $2 from its price of $128 per share. The option buyer paid about $0.85, so a move to $125 per share would lead ...
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