The iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) is a popular asset allocation ETF for those wanting exposure to corporate bonds. Many asset allocators have at least a portion of their portfolio in corporate bonds (non high-yield variety), so LQD sees a lot of options action. Last week, a strategist bought over 40,000 […]

While it’s been a rough year for the Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK), a large options trade may suggest a brighter 2023.  A strategist purchased what appears to be a 30,000-lot of covered calls on ARK that expire in February. The covered calls allow for over 10% upside potential in share appreciation before capping out, while […]

It’s always interesting to see a very large spread trade occur in a stock that doesn’t have a very active options chain. Dlocal Limited (DLO) offers a payment system for emerging markets and generally trades about 5,000 options per day. On one day last week, one spread accounted for 30,000 contracts. It appears to be […]

When a stock is trading in a range, sometimes a covered call strategy can be a good way to take advantage of the situation.  Sunpower (SPWR) has been range-bound for most of the year and is trading somewhere near the middle of its range. A trader is attempting to capitalize off the situation by making […]

While trading tends to slow down during Thanksgiving week, the weather doesn’t always comply. Freezing temperatures have caused a surge in natural gas prices, and trading has become brisk in the United States Natural Gas Fund (UNG). UNG is the most popular pure play ETF for natural gas. A sophisticated trader recently placed what looks […]

Bond prices have rallied lately with the expectations that interest rates won’t go quite as high as originally expected. (Bond prices move opposite of yields.)  This includes government bonds, corporate bonds, and high yield bonds as well. A very large bullish call spread in iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG) suggests there […]

The collapse in cryptocurrencies (brought about by the insolvency of FTX) spilled over into equities markets last week. Bears are betting that Coinbase (COIN) is going to succumb to the downside pressure as well.  While the FTX news was being digested by the market, traders purchased a large amount of puts in COIN, possibly expecting […]

It’s earnings season, so there’s been plenty of options action in single stock names. Recently, a strategist purchased what appears to be a very bullish call spread in Disney (DIS). The call spread – buying one call and selling another at a higher price in the same expiration period – doesn’t expire until right after […]