It’s the summer doldrums in the trading world, so traders are making due with whatever the market is willing to give. For instance, last week a strategist placed what appears to be a covered call trade in the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLF). This popular financial sector ETF is generally not very volatile and […]

A very large call spread options trade in VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) could suggest that gold prices are going to be much higher in the next six months. GDX is a popular proxy for trading gold as it is composed of the largest gold mining companies in the world. Last week, a strategist appeared […]

Sometimes large block options trades can leave you scratching your head. For example, why would Nikola (NKLA), a publicity- challenged electric truck company, have a 50,000-lot 3-way spread trade in its options? After all, the stock is only trading around $1 per share. It looks like this could be a cheap put spread collar for […]

Short-term options trades have become increasingly popular in recent months. These types of trades can be used for both speculation and hedging. For instance, a strategist apparently decided that the day of the FOMC meeting was a good time to buy a bearish put spread on iShares US Real Estate ETF (IYR). This two-week block […]

Analyzing block trades in options (very large trades) can be enlightening, but it can also leave you scratching your head at times. For example, last week someone appeared to sell a strangle nearly 50,000x (selling both a call and a put around the stock price) in Nu Holdings (NU) . This strategy will make over […]

 For investors who follow steel stocks, there may be some good news on the horizon. Steel companies have taken a hit in recent months, including Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF), which is down 14% year-to-date. However, a trader purchased what appears to be a bullish call spread in CLF options that expires in August. This 10,000-lot vertical spread […]

An intriguing 3-legged options trade occurred in ride-sharing giant, Uber (UBER) last week. This strategy, known as a put spread collar, traded 24,000 times and has an August expiration. The purpose of this trade is generally to protect the downside for those that own the stock. With a put spread collar, the downside loss is […]

 Some stocks are good for investing and others are better for trading. Bitcoin has become a popular trading instrument and may end up being at least somewhat uncorrelated with other asset classes. Currently, ProShares Strategy Bitcoin ETF (BITO) is a popular way to trade bitcoin (that uses bitcoin futures). Coming in June, the 2x Bitcoin […]

While it’s interesting to see what options are trading in terms of absolute volume, it can also be useful to look at relative volume. For instance, Broadridge Financial (BR) traded over 125x its normal options volume one day last week. The banking software company typically only trades 40 contracts per today, so seeing a 2,000-lot […]

The regional banking failures continue, with First Republic getting gobbled up by JP Morgan Chase (JPM) and now PacWest (PACW) searching for strategic options. That means the company is looking for ways out of the current situation and will likely result in a merger or acquisition with a bigger bank. At least one trader may […]