Too Many Options: $BBRY, $AAPL, $MSFT, $NVDA, $GPS

by Enis September 24, 2013 5:54 am • Commentary

Amazing session in BBRY options.  Implied volatility moved wildly lower after traders viewed Prem Watsa’s offer as a major vol dampener going forward.

  1. BBRY – Implied volatility in BBRY was crushed after Prem Watsa’s offer for the company.  Jan14 and Mar14 8 and 9 strike implied volatility was down more than 30 vol points.  The Oct 8 puts were the most active line, trading over 50k at an average price of $0.4675, almost all in the morning.  After the news, the option closed at 0.08 (another example of the move lower in implied volatility).
  2. AAPL – Call to put ratio moved above 2, with over 500k calls trading on the day (vs. 1 month average of 322k).  The weekly 500 calls were by far the most active, trading around 46k at an average price of 2.895.
  3. MSFT – Someone traded the Nov 34 / 35 1×2 call spread, 16k x 32k, for a 0.08 credit (paid 0.62 for the 34 call, sold 2 of the 35 calls at 0.35 each).
  4. NVDA – Buyer of 20k of the Nov 15/14 put spread for 0.25 to open.  Stock made a new 18 month high last week.  Earnings are in early November.
  5. GPS – Trader sold 20k of the Oct 40 puts to open, at an average price of 0.604 midday.  GPS has not traded below $40 since May.