Most Active Stock Options October 22, 2009 & Trading Activity

As of today the top ten option contracts traded were:

1. S&P 500 SPDR (NYSE:SPY) November 102 Put Options
2. SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (NYSE:XHB) November 16 Call Options
3. S&P 500 SPDR November 108 Put Options
4. MetroPCS Communications Inc (NYSE:PCS) May 7.50 Call Options
5. S&P 500 SPDR November 105 Put Options
6. Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) January 15 Call Options
7. S&P 500 SPDR November 107 Put Options
8. S&P 500 SPDR November 109 Put Options
9. Financial Select Sector SPDR (NYSE:XLF) November 15 Put Options
10. Citigroup (NYSE:) January 2011 10 Call Options

It looks as if the bearish activity still remains in the options as there has been many put contracts traded on the SPY in the last few days. Something extremely strange to see is the MetroPCS May 7.50 calls being among the most active. I would assume there may be some wild speculation of a takeover or breakthrough deal involving this company, but then again maybe not. There isn't a dividend being paid that I could find, but they do report earnings November 5, so it will be interesting to see how they report. It is nice to see some bullish activity rushing back into one of my largest holdings, Bank of America. Citigroup at 5 this January is a stretch, but give it another year and someone thinks it could double beyond that. Citigroup at 10 is almost unheard of, but then again who knows. That particular contract traded up 3 cents today or 25%! On the other hand there were some short-term bearish bets placed on the SPDR financial ETF (XLF). Today I closed my PowerShares QQQ (NASDAQ:QQQQ) put position, and Ebay 24 put options. I also opened a 1/4 ratio put spread on Amazon (AMZN) which turns out will be an awesome play. I will look to close my 80 strike put options at open (hopefully for less than a nickel) and will let my 85 puts ride as they'll be almost worthless at open tomorrow. I'll have just under 30 days to trade out of them, and will try to fetch something if Amazon sells off on profit taking in the next few weeks. I also sold some put options on America Express (AXP) for the November 32 strike, and sold the 39 strike call options against my shares. I closed my November 18 calls I had written Monday on Las Vegas Sands (LVS) today gaining over 35%. I did not get into my Potash (POT) position which I wanted to, but there is always next earnings season... Happy trading! Sphere: Related Content