Geron Corporation Spikes Higher, Garners Heavy Call Buying

Geron Corporation (GERN) is attracting bullish speculation on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) and the International Securities Exchange (ISE). During the past five days, option players on these two exchanges have purchased 5,833 calls, compared to just 263 puts, for an optimistically skewed call/put volume ratio of 22.18.

The May 7.50 call is home to peak front-month open interest of 5,146 contracts, all of which are out of the money as GERN trades near $6.27. Traders have even higher hopes for the stock during the next month, with 7,873 calls at the June 7.50 strike and 7,196 calls at the June 10 strike.

Earlier this week, GERN gapped higher on no news in particular. The stock is now hovering well above short-term support from its 10-day and 20-day moving averages. If bearish bettors are spooked by the security's recent surge, it could contribute to additional gains -- currently, a healthy 15.4% of the stock's float has been sold short.

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