FXCM Inc (FXCM) is now facing legal troubles stemming from its roughly 90% drop in January
FXCM Inc (NYSE:FXCM) is down 11.2% today at $1.91 on news the International Union of Operating Engineers Local No. 478 Pension Fund is suing the company for misleading investors prior to its 87% plunge in mid-January. Now, puts are changing hands at seven times the expected intraday rate. Much action has taken place at the August 2 put, where it's possible traders are taking profits off the table amid today's slide.
Interestingly enough, the stock's options traders have show an unusual preference for short-term calls. FXCM's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.10 is only 1 percentage point from an annual low. It's possible, though, that some this activity is due to short sellers hedging. For instance, 27.6% of the equity's float is sold short, and it would take bears almost seven sessions to buy back their shorted shares, at average daily volumes.
Analysts certainly aren't ready to show faith in the shares. Five brokerage firms rate FXCM a "hold" or worse, and there are none that recommend it as a "buy."
As was mentioned, FXCM Inc (NYSE:FXCM) has had a horrible year, as it entered 2015 at $16.57. Making matters worse, today's drop has nearly taken out all of the stock's pre-earnings gains from Friday. For the first quarter, FXCM recorded a loss of $9.06 per share.