U.S. stocks opened up more than 1% and have traded in a fairly tight range for most of the session, in a 7 point range:
After being down a little more than 6% on the month on the morning of February 11th, the S&P 500 (SPX) is now flat on the month, and down only 5% on the year. Before those who think we are heading straight back to the all time highs in the SPX, I think it makes sense to keep an eye on this one year chart. A close above 1950, and the 50 day moving average would be a fairly bullish occurrence that the rally could have more legs.
In the meantime, investors are chasing stocks that have had the snot beaten out of them and sport large short interest (see WYNN, DDD, FEYE, AA). One of the largest today was in FCX, which fits in that group. Here’s what caught my eye:
FCX: shares of the copper and gold miner are up more than 120% from their multi-year lows on January 20th. For months the options flow in the stock was traders rolling down puts, but today the largest single stock options trade was a bullish roll in the name. When the stock was $7.94 (at 11am) a trader sold to close 46,000 Jan 8 calls at $2.33 and bought to open 46,000 Jan 10 calls for $1.65 to open.
This trader is booking some recent profits (and reducing deltas) while keeping long exposure out almost a year.