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China Finance Online Co. (ADR) (JRJC) has soared almost 17% today
Chinese stocks are once again blowing up, and China Finance Online Co. (ADR) (NASDAQ:JRJC) is no exception. At last check, the shares were nearly 17% higher at $5.68, bringing them into positive year-to-date territory. Options traders have taken notice, too, as calls are crossing at nine times the expected intraday pace.
Looking more closely, JRJC's most active option is the April 6 call. It looks like traders are buying to open these out-of-the-money contracts in the hopes the stock will topple $6 by next Friday's close, when front-month options expire. Earlier today, the shares topped out at $6.22 -- their first foray north of the strike since a late-March bear gap.
Traders have been buying to open calls over puts at a breakneck speed in recent months. JRJC's 50-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) call/put volume ratio of 37.17 ranks in the 90th percentile of its annual range.
In a similar vein, China Finance Online Co.'s (NASDAQ:JRJC) Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) registers at 0.18, lower than 89% of all comparable readings from the past 52 weeks. In other words, call open interest significantly outweighs puts open interest among options set to expire in the next three months.