Too Many Options: Like the Old Days, $AAPL Call Buying

by Enis February 26, 2013 5:59 pm • Commentary

The VIX retreated quite a bit by the close, down 2 points to around 17 as the market rallied.  Meanwhile, calls dominated single stock volumes.

  1. AAPL – The stock had an oversold bounce on strong volume in the afternoon.  Some attributed the move to rumors of a potential stock split announcement at tomorrow’s shareholder meeting.  6 of the top 10 most trade single stock option lines were in AAPL.  Call to put ratio was 1.6, and the weekly 450 and 460 calls were most active.  Shareholder meeting tomorrow at 12 pm EST.
  2. INTC – INTC up 1.7%, after holding the 20 support level in the past week.  The Mar 22 calls traded over 44k, avg. price of 0.045.  The Mar 21 calls traded around 12k.
  3. BAC – The Jan14 12 calls traded over 40k, with one large print of 34k at 1.01 in the afternoon.  The Jan15 10 puts also active, trading over 20k in what looked like selling.
  4. MET – The Mar 37 and 38 calls each traded over 10k, potentially closing, and the Apr 37 calls traded over 10k as well, to open, so potentially a roll.
  5. DTV – The June 55 calls trade almost 10k, avg. price of 0.54, looks like a buyer.  Stock is at important 6 month support level of $48.
  6. TIVO – Mar 13 and Mar 14 calls both trade over 2500 ahead of earnings this evening.  Stock trading close to unchanged in the aftermarket.
  7. AIG – Trades almost 2x normal volume.  Stock bounced off its 50 day ma midday.  May 42 and 43 calls both trade 13k times (likely sold to close), and Apr 36 puts trade 28k (likely sold to open), separate prints.
  8. TGT – Mar 62.5 puts trade over 10k throughout the day, mostly buying in the afternoon.  Stock reports tomorrow morning, implied move of about 3%.
  9. EEM – Plethora of put spreads trade in March and April.  Notable roll in the morning, someone sold 16.5k of the Mar 43 puts, to buy 16.5k of Apr 41.5 puts, collected 0.09.
  10. GOOG – Call to put ratio at 0.9 today as GOOG struggled to rally.  Weekly 790 puts, 795 calls, and 800 calls all trade over 3500.