Here is some untied, generally directional options activity that caught my eye during Friday’s trading:
1. AAPL – Total options volume on a day that saw the stock make a new all time intra-day high was 1.3x average daily volume, with calls outnumbering puts 2 to 1. Calls made up 9 of the top 10 most active strikes, but the only strike in the top ten most active that did not fall in February next week or regulars was the July 130 calls, with 25,000 changing hands vs 45,000 open interest. There was a bullish roll up and out when stock was 117.
2. TLT – the 2o year bond etf continues to make new multi year highs on a daily basis continuing its massive outperformance to stocks over the last year. When the etf was 137.
3. XOP – on a day that saw a massive short term reversal in crude oil, the S&P Oil & Gas E&P etf saw a decent size bearish roll,
4. IWM – there was a fairly massive put butterfly bought in the small cap etf was the stock was 116.92,
5. MSI – There was a bullish risk reversal bought in the stock when it was 63,
6. JPM – on a day that saw the stock close at the lows of 2015, down 13% on the year, and down nearly 15% from the 52 week highs made on Dec 31st, the stock saw some long dated call buying,
7. CVX – Despite the earnings beat the stock was down about 4% after news that the company would suspend share buybacks given the collapse in crude, but closed down marginally in sympathy with the huge bounce in crude oil. When the stock was 102.
8. BUD – saw huge call volume, with 40,000 trading on the day, greater than the 30,600 total open interest in the stock coming into the day. When the stock was 120.91, a trader paid 2.50 for 15,000 Jan16 150 calls to open vs selling 210,000 shares. These calls were only a 14 delta, so the buyer might have traded the options vs stock to secure better pricing from the market maker. Later in the afternoon another 10,000 were bought, also for 2.50 to open, 33,600 ended up trading on the day making it the single largest line of open interest. This is a fairly curious purchase with break-even a year out of $152.50, up about 26% from current levels, with the stock just 1% from all time highs on a runaway breakout: