Monday, December 23, 2024
An intriguing way to hedge your portfolio’s downside risk for essentially no cost is by using a put spread collar. A large zero-cost put spread collar was placed last week on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) The trader sold calls and used the proceeds to purchase a put spread. The position will give a […]
Chinese stocks saw a significant amount of options activity last week when Chinese regulators appeared to ease up on some restrictive practices. Chinese internet giant Alibaba (BABA) was up 15% in a day, while trading over 1 million options. It looks like some of the biggest block trades were bullish call purchases in September and […]
Pinterest (PINS) is a social media company that lost users after the pandemic lessened, causing the stock price to plummet. However, the company has recently begun adding users again. A large options block trade in PINS from last week looks like a very bullish call position in July options. This may be a sign that […]
Electric vehicle stocks haven’t been nearly as active as they were during the heart of the Covid crisis. However, Nikoka (NKLA) options traded over 200,000 contracts on a busy day last week, which is 4x the regular amount. In this case, it appears that a large institutional position was either rolled to July or closed […]
Options are commonly used as hedging instruments, especially options on indexes and ETFs. The iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA) is a popular asset allocation ETF which invests in stocks in developed countries ex US. As such, it makes for a good product to hedge with (using options), since it tracks the global equities market fairly […]
Last week was a tough one for social media company Snap (SNAP), which missed badly on guidance. The company warned of challenging macroeconomic conditions ahead and the stock dropped over 40% the next day. The following day, the stock gained 10%, and a large investor bought 10,000 January SNAP calls. This seemingly very bullish trade […]
It was the most challenging week in recent memory for blue chip retailers, with inflation and supply chain constraints hurting earnings and scaring away investors. Options action was mixed in Consumer Staples Select SPDR ETF (XLP), the leading retail sector ETF. One massive put spread that traded in XLP options during the week appears to […]
Several key retail stocks sold off sharply last week as inflation and supply chain issues took a toll on earnings. Target (TGT) was hit the hardest and dropped 25% in a day. Costco (COST) and Walmart (WMT) also saw their share prices decline. Options action was mixed on TGT, with some options traders potentially looking for a […]
Tech stocks have been among the hardest hit in market sell off this year. Roblox (RBLX), the popular video game company, has also seen a sharp decline in its share price as its revenue growth has slowed. However, after its most recent earnings report, the stock price looks like it could be bouncing back. In […]
The market has been in a significant downtrend this year, but the ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) has been hit even harder. ARKK is down 60% year-to-date as it holds some of the most speculative stocks from the past several years. However, several options trades last week appear to be from traders opening up bullish positions […]
