AMZN shares have traded in a tight range recently
Earlier this morning, the New York Post reported that an Amazon-led group was nearing a $3.5 billion deal for YES Network, New York's prominent cable sports channel. The e-commerce giant would have control of streaming to New York Yankees and Brooklyn Nets games. More notably, Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren just proposed a plan to break up the major tech companies like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).
The stock is down 1.6% to trade at $1,600.02 this morning, on track for its fourth straight loss. For the past month, the FAANG name has traded in a tight range, consolidating below the $1,700 level. Year-to-date, the equity is clinging to a 7% lead.
Amazon options traders have grown fond of calls. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the equity's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 1.30 is in the 87th percentile of its annual range. The high percentile indicates a much healthier-than-usual appetite for bullish bets of late.
Digging deeper, the weekly 3/8 1,650- and 1,700-strike calls are home to the largest increases in open interest during this time frame. Buy-to-open activity is detected at these strikes, which indicates options traders are banking on a big rally from AMZN by the end of the day today, when the options expire.