The S&P 500 index stopped just short of a new high on Friday, but optimism was back in vogue. The CBOE composite put/call ratio closed at 0.76, its lowest level since Aug. 21st.
1. EWJ – Options were very active in EWJ after the Nikkei hit a 7 year high on the BoJ surprise easing announcement on Friday. The Dec 12 call line was the most active, trading over 90k at an average price of 0.30. There was a also a seller of 55k of the Jan15 12 calls at $0.38 just before the close. EWJ failed to make a new multi-year high compared to DXJ, since DXJ is an ETF that hedges the yen exposure while EWJ does not.
2. F – Buyer of 79k of the Jan15 16/17 call spreads for 0.09 in the afternoon, rolling down a long call position from the 17 strike to the 16 strike. F has stagnated near $14 in the past few weeks, and last traded above $16 in late September, just before the company reduced guidance for 2014.
3. CMCSA – Buyer of 50k of the Jan15 55 / 60 call spreads for $1.55 in the afternoon. CMCSA has traded between $50 and $57.50 for the majority of 2014. The company’s next earnings report is not until late January, after Jan15 expiration.
4. EBAY – Trader rolled calls up, selling 24k of the Nov28th 51 calls at 2.16 to close to buy 28k of the Nov28th 53 calls for 1.05 to open. The $53 level is essentially the midpoint of the stock’s 1 year range between $46.34 and $59.70.
5. INTC – INTC closed above its 50 day ma for the first some since its earnings gap lower. The Dec 33 calls traded over 42k at an average price of $1.34. INTC’s 1 year high is $35.56 from early September.
6. S – Calls were active on Friday in Sprint ahead of the company’s earnings reports after the close today. Buyer of 24k of the Jan15 6 calls for 0.51 near the close. The Nov22nd 6 calls were bought for 0.31, 20k times earlier in the session. $7 is the critical technical resistance level for S on the upside.
7. OIH – Buyer of 21,500 of the Dec5th 47.50 calls for 0.50. Separately, the Dec2oth 48 calls traded over 25k on the session, at an average price of 0.61, mostly buyer initiated. OIH last traded above $47.50 on October 7th.