AAPL was 4 of the top 5 most traded option lines in single stocks today.
- AAPL – After yesterday’s call to put ratio around 1.2, the call buyers were more active today, pushing the ratio up to around 1.4. The Jan13 500 calls were the most traded line for the second straight day, almost 50k. Open interest at the 500 strike for Friday expiry, both puts and calls, dwarfs all other strikes.
- BAC – Second most traded name. The Jan 12 calls traded more than 70k. The Jan12.5 and Feb 12 calls traded over 30k.
- INTC – Jan 22.5 calls traded over 30k as traders positioned ahead of tomorrow afternoon’s earnings event.
- DELL – Call volume dominated, with the Feb 13, Feb 14, and Jan 12.5 calls the most active lines, all trading more than 23k. 1 month implied volatility came down more than 10 points to the low 40’s.
- GS – Call to put ratio above 2 as traders reached for 140 and 145 calls in both Jan and Feb. Stock outperformed the implied move by 1.5%.
- JPM – Jan 46 calls traded over 25k as the stock seesawed in the morning, but closed at a 52 week high. The Apr 48 and Feb 46 calls were also active.
- FB – Second straight day that call/put ratio has been more subdued, around 1.5 (vs. above 3 a couple times last week). Jan 31 and Jan30 calls most active.
- ETFC – Seller of 15k of the Feb 10 straddle at 0.88, potentially taking advantage of elevated vol ahead of earnings on Jan 24th.
- YHOO – Stock finished about $20 as rumors of an Alibaba IPO surfaced. Jan 20 calls traded more than 20k.
- EBAY – Most traded line ahead of earnings was the Jan 55 calls, averaging 0.55 on over 20k trading the whole day.