Our list of the most interesting untied stock, etf and index options activity on the day:
1. BBRY – continues its monster ytd move up 44%, up 8.5% today after yesterday’s 10% gains. The large options flow was a bit more two way today as a large block of in the money calls were bought in the morning, with an opening buyer 17k Feb 9 calls for 1.93. Then later in the afternoon there was a premium seller, possibly someone over-writer a long stock position as a block of 25k Jan2015 20 calls were sold on the bid at .49 to open.
2. DG – since the stock made a new all time high on Jan 10th at $62.93, it has sold off in sympathy with poor results from FDO, now down 8% from the highs. Today there was a buyer of the Feb 60/62.50 call spread paying .625 for 12k, in this instance the trader rolled down strikes by selling the 62.50 to close that they already owned and bought the Feb 60s to open.
3. EEM – on the heals of the big bounce in Shanghai overnight, a trader committed $2million in premium to an upside bet in the emerging market etf, paying .16 for 122k EEM May 46 calls to open.
4. FXI – soon after the EEM calls were bought a very different upside bet in the Chinese etf was bought to open where the trader looked to define a range, also looking out to May where a trader paid .31 to buy the May 38/41 1×2 call spread 30k by 60k . This trade breaks-even at 38.31 on the upside with max payout of 2.69 at 41.
5. MU – continues to see bullish flow, a trader bought 10k March 25/27 call spreads paying .51 to open
6. QCOM – trading at levels not seen since June 2000. There was a bullish roll in the calls as someone sold 5k April 75 calls at 2.72 to close and bought 12,000 April 80 calls for .82 to open
7. VIX – upside calls being bought again, yesterday it was 90k of the May 23s, today a buyer of 37k April 23 calls for .75
8. VZ – continues you under-perform ytd, one investor looking up, buys 20k March 49 calls paying .64 to open