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Citigroup Inc options traders are rolling the dice on a long-term uptrend
The 20 stocks listed in the table below have attracted the highest total 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 Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), as option bulls eye long-term upside .
In early afternoon trading, Citigroup Inc calls outstrip puts by a greater than 2-to-1 margin. What's more, the financial stock's 30-day at-the-money implied volatility (IV) has edged 2.8% higher to 18.3%, signaling elevated demand for short-term strikes.
Nevertheless, it's the longer-term January 2015 62.50-strike call that is C's most active option. So far, roughly 6,350 contracts have been exchanged here, more than doubling the second most sought-after strike.
Looking more closely, all of the contracts at the deep out-of-the-money January-dated strike have crossed at the ask price, and IV has popped 2.1 percentage points, hinting at buy-to-open activity. This theory is partially corroborated by data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE). In short, these call buyers expect C to topple the $62.50 mark by January options expiration.
While Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) hasn't seen such lofty levels since early 2009, the shares have been in a sharp rally after touching a mid-October low of $48.11. Currently sitting at $52.80, the stock has jumped nearly 10% since then, helped by a sharp bounce off of its 200-day moving average.