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...

Traders bet on drop in shares in 2020.The January 2021 $87.50 put options onTexas Instruments (TXN) saw a six-fold increase in volume in trading, going from 104 open contracts to seeing over 630 trade hands. The bet, which has 380 days to play out, would move in-the-money if shares fell by about one-third from their current price near $128. Traders paid about $2.10, or $210 per contract on average, making for an inexpensive market hedge that could soar in value on a market decline. The semiconductor company has just beaten out the stock market in the past year with a 35 percent rally ...

Traders bet on drop in shares in the next 9 days.The January 10th $126 put options onTarget (TGT) saw a five-fold surge in volume, going from 434 open contracts to over 2,050 trade hands. Expiring in just 9 days, the bet will pay off if shares of the retailer, which gained over 90 percent in 2019, will drop just $2 from its price of $128 per share. The option buyer paid about $0.85, so a move to $125 per share would lead to profits at expiration.Action to take: Find a longer dated put option on Target. It had an incredible run in 2019, thanks to some modest same-store sales growth and th...