Traders bet on continued rally this month.The January 31st $95 call options onBest Buy (BBY) saw a 16-fold rise in volume, going from 174 open contracts to seeing over 2,800 contracts trade. The bet, expiring in 16 days, is that shares will rise another $4 from their price near $91, or another 4.3 percent. The call buyers paid $0.41, or $41 per contract, so shares would need to trade closer to $95.50 by the end of the month for the buyers to profit. Shares of the electronics retail giant have had a banner year, surging 59 percent and well outperforming the market.Action to take: On a ...

Traders bet on further rally in shares.April 2020 $30 call options onON Semiconductor Corporation (ON) saw a 28-fold rise in volume, going from 123 open contracts to over 3,400. Expiring in just 94 days, the bet is that shares can rise about another $5 from their current price close to $25, or about 20 percent higher. The option buyer paid about $0.50, or $50 per contract to make the trade, so shares would need to hit $30.50 at expiration to profit the buyer. Shares of the semiconductor company are up 38 percent in the past year, with most of that return coming in the past few months ...

Traders bet on rally in oil giant.$18 call options expiring in March onPetroleo Brasileiro (PBR), also known as Petrobras, saw an 8-fold rise in volume, going from 916 open contracts to having over 7,000 trade hands. The bet, expiring in 67 days, is that shares, just under $16 right now, can head higher by at least $2 at expiration, or about 12.5 percent. Buyers of the option paid just $0.19, or $19 per contract, an inexpensive bet for shares to head higher. As Brazil’s partially state-owned oil play, Petrobras has control over the country’s massive offshore oil reserves, which could ...

Traders bet on rally in next month.The February $65 call options onThe TJX Companies (TJX) saw nearly 8,900 contracts trade hands. With a prior open interest of just 160 contracts, that’s a 56-fold rise in volume. Traders are betting that the company, currently trading around $62.50, to rally another $2.50 in the next 42 days until expiration. The traders paid just $0.65 for the trade, so shares would need to trade a bit closer to $66 at expiration to profit. The TJX Companies is the holding firm behind HomeGoods, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and other big-box retailers offering various appare...

Traders see a big rally in the first half of the year.The June 2020 $52.50 call options onThe Charles Schwab Corporation (SCHW) saw a 10-fold rise in volume, going from 340 open contracts to over 3,475 contracts trade hands. As shares trade closer to $47.50, traders are betting on at least a 10 percent rally in shares before the option expires in the next 162 days. The traders also paid about $1.30 for the contracts on average, meaning shares would need to trade closer to $49 by expiration. Shares of the brokerage firm are up just 10 percent in the past year, far underperforming the m...

Traders make in-the-money bearish bet.The March 20th 2020 $14 put options onGeneral Electric (GE) saw a 12-fold rise in volume, going from 855 open contracts to just under 10,000 contracts. The trade, expiring in 72 days, is a bet on shares to decline. But with GE shares around $12, the option is $2 in-the-money, and should increase in value dollar-for-dollar with any decline in GE shares. The option trader paid $2.09, so the option has very little time premium in it. General Electric shares had a great year, with a 44 percent rally, with shares seeming to gain momentum in the past fe...

Traders bet on 10 percent jump by late February.The February 21st 2020 $21 call options onPlains GP Holdings (PAGP), saw a whopping 148-fold surge in trading volume. From 124 open contracts, volume saw over 18,400 contracts trading hands. The bet, with shares trading just over $19, implies about a 10 percent move higher for shares in the next 46 days. The call buyer paid just $0.30, or $30 per contract. If shares stay under $21, they will expire worthless. If shares move over $21.30, the option trader will profit penny-for-penny depending on how much higher shares move in the next 46 ...

Traders bet on rally this month.January 24th call options onConoco Phillips (COP) with a $66 strike price saw a 34-fold rise in trading volume. Going from 108 open contracts to nearly 3,700, the trade is a bet that shares can move at least $0.50 higher from their current price around $65.50. The call buyer paid just under $1.50 per share for the option, so a move to $67.50 will allow the trade to profit at expiration. Shares of Conoco Phillips have been rallying since October, but are still below 52-week highs set in early 2019 around $70 per share.Action to take: Shares are in an upt...