Eleventh-Hour Bettors Blitz Priceline Group Inc. (PCLN)

Priceline Group Inc's (PCLN) weekly 2/6 series of options is popular today

Digital Content Group

Feb 6, 2015 at 1:22 PM

PCLN
EXPE

Priceline Group Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN) is following sector peer Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE) lower this afternoon, after the latter posted disappointing fourth-quarter earnings. At last check, PCLN was 2.7% below breakeven at $1,016.58, bringing its year-to-date deficit close to 11%. Nevertheless, options are trading at roughly twice the usual intraday pace, with a rush of eleventh-hour betting in the weekly 2/6 series.

PCLN's two most active options are the weekly 2/6 1,020- and 1,030-strike calls. The former are seeing buy-to-open activity, as traders anticipate the underlying will muscle back atop $1,020 by tonight's closing bell, when the series expires. Meanwhile, sell-to-open activity is detected at the higher strike, as speculators gamble on a very short-term technical ceiling.

Longer term, however, near-term puts have been preferred in Priceline Group Inc's (NASDAQ:PCLN) options pits. The stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.98 stands in the 68th annual percentile, suggesting a stronger-than-usual bias toward puts over calls, among traders targeting options expiring in the next three months.

Follow @Schaeffers

Minimize Risk While Maximizing Profits

There is no options strategy like this one, which consistently minimizes risk while maintaining maximum profits. Perfect for traders looking for ways to control risk, reduce losses, and increase the likelihood of success when trading calls and puts. The Schaeffer’s team has over 41 years of options trading success targeting +100% gains on every trade. Rest assured your losses are effectively limited to your initial cost at the time of making your move! Don't waste another second... join us right now before the next trade is released!