Option Volumes Soars Amid Opko Health Inc. (OPK) Breakout

Opko Health Inc. is up 9%, thanks to a licensing deal with Pfizer Inc.

Digital Content Group

Dec 15, 2014 at 1:48 PM

Opko Health Inc. (NYSE:OPK) has surged roughly 9% to trade at $8.92, after striking a nearly $300 million drug-licensing deal with Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE). Option traders have taken notice, too, as intraday volume is running at nearly triple the expected rate -- with possible buy-to-open activity at the January 2015 9-strike call.

Today's bullish gap has OPK trading above its year-to-date breakeven mark of $8.44, as well as several key trendlines. Specifically, the shares have broken north of their 80-, 160-, and 200-day moving averages, which have acted as levels of resistance in recent months. In fact, the last time the stock closed atop this trio of trendlines was Aug. 19.

Short-covering activity may be helping to fuel Opko Health Inc.'s (NYSE:OPK) intraday gains. More than one-fifth of the equity's float is dedicated to short interest, and it would take around six weeks to buy back these bearish bets, at OPK's average daily trading volume.

Follow @Schaeffers

$40 Gets You 4 High-Conviction Trades. Let's Go.

We just booked back-to-back double-digit gains on Celsius and Palantir in Trade of the Week, and we’re eyeing even bigger wins!

Every week starts with a fully defined options trade straight from the desk Schaeffer’s Senior V.P. of Research, Todd Salamone, backed by 30+ years of proven market experience and disciplined risk management.

Right now, you can get 4 total trades over the next 4 weeks for $40 – just $10 per trade.

👉 Sign Up Now to Receive Your First Trade!