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Twitter Inc call traders take aim at the round-number half-century mark
The 20 stocks listed in the table below are the S&P 500 Index (SPX) components that have attracted the highest weekly options volume during the past 10 trading days. Names highlighted are new to the list since the last time the study was run, and data is courtesy of Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White. One name of notable interest today is Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), which has seen an uptick in call trading.
Twitter Inc calls are being exchanged at a 14% mark-up to the typical intraday rate, and short-term contracts are in focus, as the equity's 30-day at-the-money implied volatility (IV) has popped 6.3% to 77.2%. While the most active option is of the longer-term variety -- specifically, the January 2016 50-strike call, which is largely being sold to open -- one weekly call is seeing significant activity.
In particular, TWTR's weekly 10/24 50-strike call has attracted a fair share of attention, with roughly 3,300 contracts on the tape. Nearly half have crossed at the ask price, and volume has surpassed open interest, hinting at newly bought bullish bets. In short, these call buyers anticipate TWTR will topple the round-number half-century mark by next Friday's closing bell, when the weekly series expires.
On the charts, Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) has given back about 1.7% today to trade at $49.14. However, the shares appear to have found a foothold atop the $48 level, which corresponds with their 60-day moving average. What's more, TWTR has outperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by an astounding 41.3 percentage points during the past three months.