Too Many Options: $FB Up, Everything Else Down

4:56 pm EDT - November 14, 2012 By

Today was the second-lowest NYSE advancer reading of the year (March 6th was the lowest), as only 321 NYSE issues were up on the day.  But Facebook was one of the few stocks higher, up 12.% on the day, on its largest volume day since the IPO.

  1. FB – Most active name by a long shot today.  The Nov 21 puts and Nov 22 calls were the most active.  To get a sense for how negative sentiment had become in FB, 8 of the 10 most traded lines were puts (on a day when the stock is up 12.5%!)
  2. GDX – Gold and silver miners got crushed today (even though gold and silver were higher), with GDX down 4.5%.  The Nov 49, 48.5, and 50 calls all traded more than 10k.
  3. BAC – The Nov 9 puts traded more than 60k (closed at $0.12), with big buying in the last hour as BAC breached the 9 dollar level for the first time in 6 weeks.
  4. VIX – Active all day.  In the morning, there was a buyer of 17k of the Nov 19 calls paying 0.30.  Around 11:30 am, there was a buyer of 60k of the Jan13 25 / 35 call spread for around $1.00
  5. SPY – Another active day in SPY.  Not surprisingly, the most traded lines were all around Nov expiry on Friday, the 137, 135, and 136 puts all traded more than 140k.  The 135 line in Nov has the most open interest (by a lot)
  6. TLT – Bonds have been strong all week, and today there was a buyer of 9k of the March 133 / 139 call spread for $0.90 to play for more strength.
  7. VZ – A trader rolled the Nov 44 puts into Dec 44 puts, 25k times, paying $0.48 for the put calendar.
  8. NTAP – Someone called the strong earnings in this name, as this was the largest print of the day:  trader sold 7k of the June 22 puts to buy 7k of the June 30 / 35 call spread, for zero cost.  Stock up 10% in the after-hours session after strong earnings.
  9. KRE – Regional banks have been weak ever since earnings.  Someone rolled their long 30k of the Jan13 28 puts down to the Jan13 26 puts, 40k times, and kept some premium in the pocket in the process.
  10. ANF – Stock was up 35% (was implying 11%) on a strong earnings number.  The Nov 40 calls were the most active, trading more than 15k on the day.
Share
About Enis

Global Macro Editor: Enis focuses on incorporating top-down macro and technical analysis with option market anomalies to develop favorable risk-reward trade structures. He appears regularly on CNBC's Fast Money Halftime, Closing Bell and Options Action.

 

Follow me on Twitter: @EnisTaner

Email Me