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Options
Bulls Target Steel Giant with Leveraged Trade: Options Recap

Bulls Target Steel Giant with Leveraged Trade: Options Recap

One big investor is apparently feeling bullish as the world's top steelmaker moves higher. ArcelorMittal (MT) had its busiest session in over a year on Wednesday. Here's a breakdown of the large, leveraged strategy that accounted for more of the activity: A block of...

Monster Options Volume in New Media Darling

Monster Options Volume in New Media Darling

Love it? Hate it? Trade it! That's the story today in Netflix (NFLX). The new-media darling cratered this morning on news of weak subscriber growth, before clawing back most of its losses. Analysts were all over the map in response, with some cutting estimates and...

Big call roll detected in retailer: Options recap

Big call roll detected in retailer: Options recap

Someone's apparently using options to ride the bounce in a big-box retailer. Here's a breakdown of heavy options activity detected in Target (TGT) this morning: A block of 12,000 January 72.50 calls was bought for $7.55. An equal number of July 70 calls was sold for...

Massive Leveraged Trade in Media Space: Options Activity

Massive Leveraged Trade in Media Space: Options Activity

Disclosure: This post is intended for educational purposes only and should not be considered a recommendation. Options trading may not be suitable for all investors. A massive, high-risk options trade is looking for upside in the takeover-frenzied media space. Here's...

Housing and Brazilian Fintech: Options Recap

Housing and Brazilian Fintech: Options Recap

What does a Texas home builder have in common with a South American tech stock? Both saw gushes of bullish options activity on Thursday. First, DR Horton (DHI). The housing company headquartered between Dallas and Fort Worth reports earnings on July 26. Options...

Guess Who Out-traded Apple and Facebook Yesterday: Options Recap

Guess Who Out-traded Apple and Facebook Yesterday: Options Recap

Normally big tech companies dominate activity in the options market. But not yesterday. The busiest underliers, after all, are usually companies like Apple (AAPL), Facebook (FB), Micron Technology (MU) and Nvidia (NVDA). But on Wednesday all of those were outdone by a...

Retail & Railroads: Options Recap

Retail & Railroads: Options Recap

Here's a breakdown of some big options spreads from Tuesday. Both reflected continued optimism about the economy. First, a put ratio spread in the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT): A block of 50,000 27-July 48 puts was bought for $0.36. Some 100,000 27-July 47 puts were...

Traders Doubt Safety of Classic Safe Haven: Options Recap

Traders Doubt Safety of Classic Safe Haven: Options Recap

So much for utilities being a safe haven. The SPDR Utility Fund (XLU) has risen about 6 percent in the last month, making it the top-performing major sector. But yesterday, traders braced for a potential selloff: A block of 75,000 September 50 puts in XLU was bought...

Basics of Hedging, Part 2: Covered Calls

Basics of Hedging, Part 2: Covered Calls

Most investors know that volatility can inflict pain on even the best holdings. So today we're continuing a series of posts on using options to hedge. Last time we considered buying puts for protection. Today we'll look at selling covered calls for protection. Owning...