Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. (OREX) Bulls Wager On Sharp Gains

Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. has been an on-chart dynamo since mid-October

Digital Content Group

Dec 15, 2014 at 2:06 PM

OREX

Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:OREX) has surged 3.8% to trade at $5.96, and calls are flying off the shelves at almost nine times the expected intraday clip. By the numbers, more than 7,700 contracts are on the tape, compared to 821 puts.

Buy-to-open activity is detected at the out-of-the-money December 7 call, where 3,680 contracts have been exchanged -- making it OREX's most active option. In other words, these traders are gambling on the stock to continue running higher through the end of this week, when front-month options expire.

Turning to technicals, OPK has rebounded sharply since hitting a two-year low of $3.11 in mid-October. Specifically, the stock has rocketed nearly 92% higher in roughly two months, during which it has outperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by 32.6 percentage points.

If Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:OREX) can maintain this positive momentum, the shares could benefit from a potential short-covering rally. After all, 32% of the equity's float is sold short, which would take more than three weeks to buy back, at typical daily trading volumes.

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