Friday, May 10, 2024
A very unusual options block trade hit the tape last week in Lithia Motors (LAD). The automobile dealership company typically trades about 200 options a day on average. However, a trader recently executed a 9,500-lot trade of November covered calls in LAD options. The trade could suggest there is both a floor and a ceiling […]
Stocks finally halted their selloff at the midpoint of last week, with the major indices all up at least 2% on the day. On that day, the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) was up over 3%, marking an outperformance from small cap stocks. A trader appears to have used the opportunity to place a 10,000-lot […]
Volatility is back to high levels after the Fed sounded increasingly hawkish after last week’s FOMC meeting. At least one volatility ETF, the ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (VIXY), saw an unusual increase in options volume during the period. However, it seems there was a fair amount of put buying, suggesting traders believe volatility may […]
The steel industry showed up on the unusual options volume radar last week, with both United States Steel (X) and Nucor (NUE) near the top of the list. NUE preannounced much lower than expected earnings, and X was expected to follow suit. At least some traders were snatching up blocks of short-term X puts, possibly […]
On a slow day for options trading, Globalstar (GSAT) traded over 200,000 contracts, or 31x its normal volume. The satellite communications company experienced volatile trade as investors awaited news of a deal with Apple (AAPL). GSAT will be providing satellite communication capabilities with some new AAPL products. At least one of the largest GSAT block […]
Snap (SNAP) is a popular social media company that has struggled in recent months. The company recently announced it would be cutting 20% of its workforce, which sent the share price up about 9% at the time. A strategist used the opportunity to place what looks like a long-term covered call. It was a 5,000-lot […]
The share price of Peloton (PTON) has taken a massive beating after being a darling of the Covid era. The exercise bike maker has struggled to appease investors as sales growth has slowed. However, investors liked a new deal between PTON and Amazon (AMZN) last week, which sent the shares up 20%. A bullish block […]
The most popular way for investors to trade small caps is through the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM). IWM averages nearly 30 million shares traded per day, and over 750,000 options. Last week, a large fund or trader placed a block of nearly 50,000 puts in IWM that expire in October. These far-out-of-the-money puts could […]
The iShares JP Morgan USD Emerging Market Bond ETF (EMB) is an asset allocation fund for those wanting exposure to emerging market government bonds. The ETF pays a reasonable dividend but it doesn’t generally move all that much. A well-capitalized trader is likely trying to boost returns on the low-volatility product by utilizing a covered […]
Using covered calls on index ETFs is a popular way to produce additional cash flow from holding stocks. For instance, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) is not only the most heavily traded ETF in the world, but it’s also commonly used for covered call trades. A large block of covered calls seemingly traded last […]
