Monday’s Notable Options Activity: $IBM, $AAPL, $ADSK, $PVA, $HAL, $UTX

by Enis November 25, 2014 7:09 am • Commentary

Overall market volumes were quite subdued to start the holiday week.  Tech stocks saw the most options volumes as the Nasdaq was a leader.

1.  IBM – Dan discussed the back and forth action in IBM calls in yesterday’s NTT post, as rumors surfaced and then were rejected concerning Carl Icahn’s possible involvement in IBM.  The weekly 165 calls traded nearly 10k on the session.  30 day implied volatility closed the day up about 1 point, to around 14, though that’s still at the low end of the 2 year range.

2.  AAPL – While overall options volumes were much lower, AAPL options volume yesterday was around the 1 month average.  The stock closed at another new all-time high, and calls traded more than 2x as actively as puts.  The weekly 118 calls and the Jan15 120 calls were the most active lines, both trading around 40k.

3.  ADSK – Buyer of 8,000 of the Dec20th 65 calls for 0.60 to open, vs selling 194,000 shares at 61.64.  More of that line traded later in the session, and a total of around 20k of the Dec20th 65 calls traded at an average price of 0.61.  ADSK closed at a new all-time high on Friday after a strong earnings report.

4.  PVA – PVA has been hit hard like most energy stocks in the past 6 months.  However, a bullish trade yesterday, as someone bought the Jan16 10 / 20 1×2 call spread for $1.40 to open, 14,500 x 29,000 times.

5.  HAL – The April 60 calls traded over 23k for an average price of 0.91, mostly buyer initiated.  HAL traded above $60 as recently as early October.  I discussed a possible bullish trade in HAL in April in last week’s NTT post.

6.  UTX – UTX traded large volume after the news of the CEO stepping down, and the stock closed down 1.3% on the day.  The Feb 115 call line was the most active, trading over 22k at an average price of 1.27, mostly buying to open.  UTX last traded above $115 in mid-July.