1. JCP – there was a buyer of at least 8000 Feb08 weekly straddles for $1.24 with stock trading $19.12. Stock quickly went up over $20. IV30 is up 4.5%. Stock had been down on news of a suit against them about defaulting on bonds and then rallied on news that the CEO is going to fight it.
2. ZNGA – earnings tomorrow. ML upgraded them today from underperform to buy. Stock is up $.19 to $2.75 and IV30 is up 7 points to 100. 113K options have traded versus an average of under 28K. The Feb16 3 calls have traded over 17K times with mostly buyers taking the implied vol on the line up 10 points.
3. HAIN – IV30 came in 7 points today after a large spike yesterday brought it to 2-year highs at 63. Sellers came in on the Feb16 55/65 strangle. Earnings are today after the bell. 11K options traded versus an average of just under 2K.
4. RL – lots of action today into earnings tomorrow before the bell. There was a buyer of 4000 Feb16 165/175 call spreads and selling 4000 Feb16 155 puts with stock. 25K options traded versus an average of under 3K. IV30 is considerably lower going into this earnings than the 3 previous.
5. XLF – the Apr 17/16 put spread traded 96,000 times. The Apr14 puts also traded 96K. The Mar 15 puts traded over 58K times. And the Mar 17 puts were also active trading over 43K times.
6. GLD – buyer of 17,450 Jun 180/205 call spreads for .83.
7. TLT – someone bought 26200 Mar 116 puts and sold 22280 Feb 120 puts. A continuation of the trade Enis mentioned yesterday.
8. BBRY – lots of trading again in BBRY and stock was up a dollar on news (or what some were calling anecdotal evidence) of good reception of the new Blackberry in the UK. Call to put ratio was 2.1:1 versus an average of 1.5:1. Lots of average size trades on lots of lines.
9. MCO and MHP – Moody’s Corp and McGraw-Hill Companies – IV30 rocketing, option volume up over 30 times average, and stock falling since the Justice Department announced Monday that they along with state prosecutors would be filing a civil suit over Moody’s mortgage ratings for what could be a significant figure. The SEC is investigating S&P owned by McGraw-Hill. Both have earnings in early February, the 8th and the 12th respectively.
10. APPL – stock up $15.50 today or 3.5%. The Feb08 weekly 455 and 460 calls were the most active with over 37K trading on both lines.
11. VMED – many options trading today over a potential sale to Liberty Media. Stock was up almost $7 to $45.61 and over 87K options traded versus an average around 3K. Most trading was on the Feb 45 calls and Mar 47 calls.