Options volumes were concentrated in the tech sector, as the Nasdaq Composite is now up more than 9% year-to-date.
1. YHOO – Looks like more of the Oct 40/43/46 call butterflies traded, after trading around 30k x 60k x 30k on Thursday (see last week’s TMO post). The butterfly traded around $0.40 yesterday, around 25k x 50k x 25k on the session. The Alibaba road show is expected to start in early September.
2. INTC – Trader paid 0.54 for 12k of the April 28 puts to open. INTC has had a very strong summer and is up 34% year-to-date. The stock’s breakout level was $29, so the put buyer might be protecting against a potential breakdown in the next 9 months.
3. AAPL – Options volumes were actually below the 1 month average on Monday, but it was notable because the stock hit a new all-time high and 30 day implied volatility moved higher to near 25 even as 10 day realized volatility hit a 5 month low of only 8. Outside of the weekly options, the Sept 100 call was the most active line, trading over 17k at an average price of $3.55.
4. WYNN – WYNN has traded within a few percent of $200 for the past two weeks. Buyer of 9,754 of the Oct 215 calls for 2.05 to open in the afternoon. The $220 level has acted as stiff resistance since early April. WYNN is up 3% year-to-date.
5. GS – GS touched its highest level since early January, though it remained below its January high of $181.13. Calls traded nearly 4x more than the average 1 month volume. The Sept 180 call was the most active line, trading around 10k at an average price of 1.85.