Very light options volume on Friday despite the intraday volatility in the indices. Most of the volume was in ETFs.
1. IWM – April puts were active, as traders re-adjusted protection positions after March options expired on Friday. The Apr19th 113/106 put spread traded 10k times for $0.44 shortly after the open. The Apr19th 113 puts were the most active line, trading almost 70k on the day. IWM’s first support is around the 50 day ma, near $115.
2. NE – Stock neared its 50 day ma, which is now around $32, for the first time since the start of 2014. NE rallied almost 10% last week, but is still down 15% year-to-date. Someone sold 28k of the June 32 calls at 1.36, vs. buying 25k of the June 29 puts for 0.88, both to open.
3. NOK – Options volumes were more than 3x the 1 month average. NOK hit a 6 week low on Friday. Implied volatility hit its highest level in 6 months after Friday’s flurry of options buying. The Apr19th 8 calls were the most active line, trading over 28k at an average price of 0.15. The Apr 6 puts traded nearly 20k, at an average price of 0.09.
4. JPM – The Apr19th 62.5 calls traded nearly 20k at an average price of 0.48, mostly seller initiated. JPM broke above $60 for the first time since the spring of 2000, though the stock reversed back to unchanged on its highest volume day since September.
5. WMT – Highest volume trading day in more than a year for WMT. The stock closed right at its 200 day moving average, and at a 2 month high. The May 80 and the Apr19th 80 calls both traded over 10k.