Wednesday’s Notable Options Activity: $F, $XLI, $SPLS, $FTNT, $XLNX

by Enis November 13, 2014 6:55 am • Commentary

Calls were more active than puts yesterday, with the CBOE Put/Call ratio down to 0.80, its second lowest reading of the past 2 months.

1.  F – Ford made a one month high yesterday, and the Jan15 15 call line was active.  Buyer of 39k for 0.39 in the afternoon.  Dan discussed a possible trade idea in Ford in a Tuesday NTT post, noting the low level of implied volatility.  30 day implied volatility was higher by more than a point after yesterday’s call buying.

2.  XLI – XLI made a new high this week as the industrials sector is one of the leaders on the rally of the past month.  There was a seller of 35k of the Jan15 50 puts at 0.20 to close yesterday, likely the same trader who bought those puts for around 0.85 on Oct.23rd.

3.  SPLS – Staples rallied to a new 6 month high yesterday, ahead of the company’s earnings results on Nov. 19th.  Trader paid 0.17 for 12,000 of the Nov22nd 14 calls vs. selling 276,000 shares at 13.06.  That trade could stock replacement, or just traded calls vs. stock to get better execution.

4.  FTNT – The network security firm is now within 6% of its all-time high of $28.82 from April 2012.  Seller of 15k of the Nov22nd 27 / 29 call spreads at 0.50, looks like to close.  That trade was opened in mid-october for around the same price.

5.  XLNX – The Jan15 / Jan16 42 put calendar trades 15k for $3.05 to open in the morning.  XLNX reports earnings on January 21st, just after the Jan15 expiration date.