Some stocks are good for investing and others are better for trading. Bitcoin has become a popular trading instrument and may end up being at least somewhat uncorrelated with other asset classes. Currently, ProShares Strategy Bitcoin ETF (BITO) is a popular way to trade bitcoin (that uses bitcoin futures). Coming in June, the 2x Bitcoin […]

While it’s interesting to see what options are trading in terms of absolute volume, it can also be useful to look at relative volume. For instance, Broadridge Financial (BR) traded over 125x its normal options volume one day last week. The banking software company typically only trades 40 contracts per today, so seeing a 2,000-lot […]

The regional banking failures continue, with First Republic getting gobbled up by JP Morgan Chase (JPM) and now PacWest (PACW) searching for strategic options. That means the company is looking for ways out of the current situation and will likely result in a merger or acquisition with a bigger bank. At least one trader may […]

While options block trades can potentially provide insight into what the smart money is doing, it’s impossible to know for sure what the goal of a big trade is. For instance, a 22,000-lot call spread expiring in October appears to have been purchased in iShares 20+ Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) options. This would seem to […]

Globalstar (GSAT) is a satellite communications company. The stock price is under $1, but the company has a market value of almost $2 billion. Last week, an options trader seemingly purchased a block of 10,000 calls in GSAT that expire in July. This could be a bet on earnings next month or simply a bullish […]

An options block trade in General Motors (GM) could be a sign of stability in the stock over the next several months. A trader appears to have sold a put spread in GM options that expires in September. The spread was sold 10,000 times, with the position collecting $1.40 in premium per spread. The best […]

 Is the price of silver about to skyrocket? A massive options trade in iShares Silver Trust (SLV) could be suggesting that a large rally may occur in the precious metal before autumn sinks in. SLV is the most popular ETF for trading silver and tracks the price of physical silver. A trader placed an October […]

As the regional banking crisis enters its second week, options traders have been eyeing First Republic Bank (FRC). The ultra-high volatility in FRC means there has been plenty of options action in the stock, with thousands more options trading than what normally occurs. One trader appears to be selling over 3,5000 puts that expire in […]

Normally sleepy regional banks have been wildly active in options trading after the SIVB crisis from last week. First Republic Bank (FRC) is a regional bank that investors have been very concerned about, with the stock down over 70% in a week. Despite bankruptcy concerns, some options traders