Options volumes were very light on Friday. In fact, it was one of the lightest days of 2014 for options, a reflection of the very low level of realized volatility (10 day realized volatility in the S&P 500 index hit 4).
1. OIH – OIH has consolidated in the $42-$46 range over the past 3 weeks. The oil services ETF saw some aggressive buying on Thursday near the close after the potential HAL bid for BHI was reported, but OIH still closed down 2% last week. The Nov22nd 44 calls traded over 50k at an average price of 1.03, mostly buyer initiated.
2. T – The June 35 / 34 put spread traded 19k times at 0.44, vs. the Apr 38 calls trading 35k for 0.33, all in the morning. T closed at its highest level since July on Friday, benefitting from the shift towards defensive stocks in the past month.
3. EMC – EMC closed above $30 for the first time since 2001, though it did not break its intraday high of $30.18 from mid-September. Call buying was significant, including a buyer of 25k of the Jan15 31 calls for 0.80 to open in the afternoon.
4. BHI – BHI rallied around 15% last week after the HAL news, though the stock is still down more than 20% from its July high of $75.64. 30 day implied volatility jumped to a 2 year high of 57. There was a buyer of 20k of the Dec20th 62.5/75 call spreads for 2.38 to open vs. selling 20k of the Dec20th 50 puts at 0.63 to open, trading for a net debit of 1.75 as a three-way package in the morning.
5. IYR – Bearish roll in IYR – trader sells of the Nov 74.