Thursday’s Notable Options Activity: $C, $DG, $EBAY, $GDX, $RIG, $XOP

by Dan December 12, 2014 9:02 am • Commentary

Here is some untied, generally directional options activity that caught my eye during Thursday’s trading:

1. DG – There was a buyer of 10,000 Feb 80 calls to open for 1.40  when the stock was 69.87. Earlier there was a seller of 8500 Feb 65/75 strangles at 5.00, this could be a yield enhancement trade against a long stock that collects 5.00 if the stock is above 65 and below 75 on Feb expiration.

2. RIG – The stock apparently has no bottom, down 65% on the year on its way to 20 year lows.  Options volume ran almost 2x avg daily with 90% of the volume in puts.  When the stock was 17.02 there was a bearish roll where a trader sold 4k feb 21 puts to close at 4.90 and bought the Feb 17/10 Put spread 8000x for 2.05.  The largest block on the day was a buy of 16,000 Feb 18 puts for 2.91 when the stock was 17.62.  Implied volatility has blown out in the last few weeks, nearly doubling from early October from 40% to 80%,as the stock has nearly been cut in half during the same period.

3. C – Call volume was 3x that of puts yesterday, with the largest trade a buyer of 20,000 Feb 60 calls for 1.60 to open when stock was $55.

4. URBN – After posting than expected same store sales results, the stock was up 10%, before settle in a bit, closing more than $1 from the highs. Call volume was 3x avg daily with the most actives 3400 of the jan 36 calls trading and 2700 jan 35 calls trading

5. EBAY – Options volume ran 8x average daily volume, with calls dominating as investors get focused on the company’s plan to split into two units in the new year.  The largest trade on the day was a buy of 17,000 Feb 60 calls to open for 1.21 when the stock was 56.93,this trade break even above the 52 week highs at $61.21 on February expiration.

6. INFY – Saw a bearish roll down in puts, trader sold 10,000 Jan 32.5 puts at 1.775 to close and buys 15,000 Jan 30 puts for .90 to open when stock was 31.60

7. NEM – Call volume ran 2x the 4 week average. the most actives were the Jan 23rd 21 calls, with 5000 trading most looking bought to open, and 5000 of the Dec 20th 20.5 calls.

8. GDX – Trader paid up to .50 for 12,500 Jan 23rd weekly 21 calls when etf was 18.92

9. FCX – Bullish three way where a trader sold 1,000 Jan 21 puts to buy 2,000 of the Jan 25/27 call spread, collecting .03 for the structure.  Looked to be a toll down in calls, where trader sold the Jan 27 calls to close and bout the Jan 25 calls to open when the stock was 23.04.

10. XOP – Sees large call spread purchase, trader pays 1.50 for 14,500 of the March 53/62 call spread when stock was 45.14 to open.  I highlighted the trade last night on Fast Money: