Unusual Options Activity: AEO, TGT, LOW, LEN, and OMER

Pre-earnings traders circled retailers AEO, TGT, and LOW, while new highs sparked abnormal volume for LEN and OMER

Aug 18, 2015 at 4:55 PM

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The Dow finished lower today, despite more encouraging housing data, as traders exercised caution ahead of tomorrow's release from the Fed. Across all 12 options exchanges, 5.9 million calls crossed, compared to 5.5 million puts. The day's put/call volume ratio closed at 0.93.

Pre-earnings traders circled retailers American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE:AEO), Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT), and Lowe's Companies, Inc. (NYSE:LOW). AEO calls traded at 12 times the average daily clip, and outnumbered puts by a margin of more than 5-to-1. TGT calls crossed at six times the normal pace, while LOW puts traded at 10 times the average.

Lennar Corporation (NYSE:LEN) calls were 11 times hotter than usual, as the stock and its housing peers rallied to post-recession highs. In similar fashion, Omeros Corporation (NASDAQ:OMER) assailed new heights on upbeat drug news, sending overall option volume soaring to 33 times the norm.

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