Bulls Busy as LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LYB) Tests $100

LyondellBasell Industries NV (LYB) is flirting with $100 after a strong earnings report

Apr 24, 2015 at 2:17 PM

LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB) is flirting with triple digits, after the company reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings. At last check, the Netherlands-based chemical stock was up 2.5% at $99.98. Meanwhile, options traders are counting on the shares to push even higher through May expiration.

Overall call volume is running at quadruple the intraday norm. Looking more closely, traders are buying to open the May 100 and 105 calls -- LYB's two most active options right now -- in hopes the stock will move decisively north of the $100 century mark by the close on Friday, May 15, when the options expire.

In recent months, speculators have bought to open more than three LYB calls for every put, per data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). Specifically, the equity's 50-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX call/put volume ratio checks in at 3.18.

This optimism is far from surprising, given LyondellBasell Industries NV's (NYSE:LYB) technical track record. So far in 2015, the shares have advanced roughly 26%, and over the previous three months, they've outperformed the S&P 500 Index (SPX) by 21 percentage points.

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