Engine No. 1 supports GM's goal for an all-electric portfolio
General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) stock is up 4.1% to trade at $55.32 at last check, bucking the broad market selloff after an SEC filing revealed hedge fund Engine No. 1 has taken a stake in General Motors. The firm, which became well known after its successful campaign against Exxon (XOM) this year, also announced its support of GM's goal to have 100% of its cars be electric by 2035. Separately, chipmaker Wolfspeed (WOLF), formerly named Cree, inked a battery tech deal with GM.
Today's pop has the stock jumping back above the 200-day moving average, which kept a lid on last week's gains. Year-to-date, GM sports a 30% lead, but remains a ways off it June 7 record high of $64.30.
Calls are being picked up at a quicker-than-usual rate today, with 57,000 across the tape already -- three times what's typically seen at this point. The weekly 10/8 57-strike call is the most popular, followed by the 55 call in the same series, with new positions being opened at the former. This means plenty of options traders are betting on more upside for GM but the end of this week.
Put traders have been growing bolder though. GM's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.73 sits four percentage points from an annual high. In other words, short-term options traders haven't been more put-biased recently.
What's more, GM's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) sits at 84 (out of 100), suggesting the stock has usually exceeded option traders' volatility expectations in the past year.