Another light volume, tight range trading session for the S&P 500 index, though the options market were a bit more active on Tuesday than Monday.
1. AAPL – Seller of 8300 of the July 600 calls at 37.90 to close to buy 10,250 of the July 680 calls for 4.10 to open. The trader rolled the bullish position higher, but locked in most of the 37.90 in premium, in what turned out to be a very nice trade. AAPL is now up 13.5% in 2014, and trading at its highest level since October 2012.
2. GLD – Options were very active again, with calls trading over 3x the average 1 month volume. Large call spread in GLD bought to open,
3. INTC – INTC broke out to a new 1 year high, though puts were more active than calls on the day. Buyer of 20k of the Jan15 25 puts for 0.81 in the afternoon, marked to close. The bulk of those puts traded last year between $3 and $5. INTC’s 10 year high is $29.27 from May 2012.
4. MRO – Buyer of 25k of the Oct 38 calls for 0.86 in the morning. $38.18 is the 5 year high in MRO, and the all-time high of $40.70 is only a bit more than 10% away. Implied vol hit a multiyear low over the past month, heading into the mid-teens.
5. XLE – Buyer of 40k of the July 93 puts for 1.18 to open around 10:00 am. XLE made a new all-time high on Monday, and a new closing high yesterday. The $90 level was the breakout spot above the 2008 highs, and that should be important support on the downside.
6. TLT – The July 113 calls traded over 40k at an average price of 1.16, mostly seller initiated. TLT closed at its lowest level since early May, though still above its rising 50 day moving average, which is now around $111.10. TLT has not traded more than a touch below its 50 day ma since early January. We currently have an outstanding trade on in TLT – you can read the details here.