Mylan Traders Take Cues from Abbott Laboratories

Mylan NV (MYL) option bears are active after Abbott Laboratories (ABT) reduced its stake

Mar 30, 2015 at 11:23 AM

The shares of Mylan NV (NASDAQ:MYL) are bucking the broad-market trend higher this morning, and option traders are taking a cue from Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), which is significantly reducing its stake in MYL. Early put volume is running at nine times the average intraday clip, with speculators gambling on even more downside for MYL over the next few weeks. At last check, the equity is 4.4% lower at $58.92.

Most active by a mile is MYL's April 57.50 put, where more than 5,000 contracts have crossed the tape. It appears traders are buying the puts to open, amid expectations for MYL to breach $57.50 by the close on Friday, April 17, when front-month options expire. The stock bottomed at $57.62 earlier today.

Even before today's bear gap, MYL option traders were buying to open puts over calls at a faster-than-usual clip. The stock's 10-day put/call volume ratio on the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) sits at 0.73 -- higher than 80% of all other readings from the past year.

In light of today's slide, Mylan NV (NASDAQ:MYL) is testing its mettle atop its 10-week moving average. This trendline, along with its 20-week counterpart, has provided support since mid-October, and lifted MYL to a record high of $65.63 on March 18.

Weekly Chart of MYL since September 2014 with 10-Week and 20-Week Moving Averages

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