January 2022 call options onSnapchat (SNAP) saw over 17,621 contracts trade, and 18-fold rise over the prior interest near 1,000. The contracts, expiring in 709 days, are a bet on the company roughly doubling from their current price near $17.60. The option buyer also paid $1.50 per contract, so shares would need to clear $36.50 at expiration to profit. That would bring the return expectation up to 107 percent over today’s share price. A doubling would also bring the company’s market cap to around $50 billion. Shares are up 95 percent in the past year, roughly four times higher than t...

February 28th $27 call options oniQIYI (IQ) saw a 57-fold increase in volume, going from 151 open contracts to over 8,600 options trade. The bet, expiring in 17 days, is for shares to rise about $1.75 from their current price near $25.25. That’s about a 7 percent return. The call buyer also paid about $1.00 for the trade, so shares would really need to clear $28 at expiration for the trader to profit. An internet entertainment platform based out of China, iQIYI is a subsidiary of Baidu. Shares are up 18 percent in the last year, just underperforming the S&P 500.Action to take: Whi...

Trader bets on major rally in coming months.April 17th $80 call options onGilead Sciences (GILD) saw a 38-fold rise in trading, going from 805 open contacts to over 30,300 trade hands. The bet, expiring in just 68 days, is that shares will move about $12 higher from their price of $68, or about 17.6 percent. The total returns on shares will have to clear 20 percent by expiration, given that the buyer of the options paid $1.30 for the stake. Gilead Sciences, a biotech company working on a variety of drugs related to the treatment of sexually-transmitted diseases, has attracted investor...

Trader bets big on moderate rally this month.February 28th call options with a $25 strike price onL Brands Inc (LB) saw a 100-fold surge in volume, going from 100 open contracts to around 10,000 trade hands. The bet, expiring in 21 days, is that shares will rally to $25 from their current price near $24.50, or just over 2 percent. The option buyer also paid about $1.15 for the contract, so shares would need to clear $26.15 to profit the buyer at expiration. L Brands is the holding company for a variety of apparel and personal care products, best known for Victoria’s Secret and Bath &a...

Trader bets on drop in shares through June.June 2020 $185 put options onLululemon (LULU) saw a 9-fold rise in volume, going from 141 open contracts to over 1,300. The trade, expiring in 134 days, implies about a 25 percent drop in shares from their current price near $245. Shares have been in an uptrend for several months and are near all-time highs. The trader also paid about $2.63 for the put options, so shares would need to drop to $182 or lower to profit at expiration.Action to take: With shares of the company up 68 percent in the past year, some caution on further upside is warrante...

Trader bets on decline in the next month.March 13th $200 put options onFacebook (FB) saw a 83-fold rise in volume, going from 106 open contracts to over 8,850. The bet, expiring in 37 days, would require shares to drop about 4 percent between now and expiration in March. The trader paid about $3.30 per contract, so shares would need to drop under $196 by then to profit at expiration. Facebook recently reported solid earnings, but shares sold off, so the trader may see more weakness in the company specifically. Shares would also make for a hedge against increased market volatility in t...

Traders bet on continued rally after double-digit move higher Monday.Shares ofTesla Motors (TSLA) rose over 15 percent in trading on the news that the company would be able to expand in China. What’s more, since earnings last week, shares are up over 25 percent. That’s led to some traders betting on a further rally. The February 7th $805 call options saw over 1,800 contracts trade compared to a prior open interest of 100—an 18-fold rise in volume. The bet, expiring in 3 days, is that the company will see its shares rise from around $750 to just over $800. The option buyer paid about $...

Trader bets on 17 percent rally in shares in the next year.January 2021 $235 call options onVisa (V) saw a four-fold rise in volume, going from 200 contracts to over 750. The bet, expiring 347 days, is that shares will move higher from around $200 by about 17 percent. The buyer also paid about $4.75 per share, so they’ll only make a profit at expiration if shares hit new all-time highs of $240. The buy comes after shares dropped slightly after lackluster earnings numbers. Even with the lackluster earnings numbers, Visa is the best play in the oligopoly credit card space. With 13 pe...

Trader bets on rally with in-the-money calls.April 2020 $34 call options onAT&T (T) saw a 13-fold rise in volume, going from 144 open contracts to nearly 1,900 trade hands. The bet, expiring in 77 days, is about $3 in-the-money. The buyer of the calls expects a further rally from here, and can profit from any dollar-for-dollar move in shares. The buyer paid $3.50 per contract on average, or about $3 of “moneyness” of the option and $0.50 in time premium. Shares would need to be at $37.50 or higher at expiration for the option buyer to profit from this trade.Action to take: AT&...

Trader bets on rally in next week.With 8 days until expiration, the February 7th $16 call options onFireEye (FEYE) saw an explosion in volume, going from 170 open contracts to over 7,350—a 43-fold rise. The bet, which is essentially at-the-money as shares trade around $16, cost the option buyer about $0.50, or $50 per contract. The trade will profit the buyer only if shares clear $16.50 by the option expiration. With FireEye reporting earnings on February 5th, this trade is a bet on a rally in shares after earnings.Action to take: Speculators looking to potentially double their money ...