Federal student loan and interest payments could resume in August
The agreement President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy struck to temporarily raise the U.S. debt ceiling will require the administration to resume collecting federal student loan and interest payments in August. However, the bill did not repeal Biden's $430 billion student debt forgiveness plan, which is under Supreme Court review.
SoFi Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:SOFI) stock is s surging as the bill heads to House floor, last seen up 8.3% at $6.53, or its highest level since March. Shares are also pacing for a third-straight daily win, and yesterday nabbed their best day since January as they conquered the 60-day moving average. So far in 2023, the security has added 43.7%.
The options pits are buzzing with activity today, with 135,000 calls and 21,000 puts traded so far, which is seven times the volume that is typically seen at this point. Most popular is the weekly 6/2 7-strike call, followed by the 6.50-strike call in that same series, with new positions being opened at both.
Short sellers are firmly in control, with short interest up 8.1% over the last two reporting periods. The 103.71 million shares sold account for 12.4% of SoFi Technologies stock's available float, suggesting an unwinding of pessimism could generate additional tailwinds.