Options Bears Descend on Apple Inc. (AAPL) After iPhone Blow

Bearish traders are targeting Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) amid news the tech company is cutting production for the iPhone

Apr 15, 2016 at 3:08 PM
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Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) ​put options are trading at an accelerated rate this afternoon, on news the tech company reduced production for its latest iPhone. Put volume is running at twice the average intraday norm, and it appears traders are buying to open the April 110 strike in hopes of extended losses from AAPL in the next hour -- when front-month options expire

Looking back, though, call options have been more popular than puts in AAPL's options pits. For instance, the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) comes in at 0.73 -- in the 30th percentile of its annual range. So, not only does call open interest outweigh put open interest among options expiring in the next three months, but short-term AAPL speculators are much more call-skewed than what's normally seen. 

On the charts, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been rebounding since bottoming near $92.60 in mid-February. Still, the shares are down 1.9% at $110.04 today due to the iPhone news, putting AAPL back below its pesky 200-day moving average. The stock is also looking up at the $112 area, which has blocked its breakout attempts since mid-December. Looking ahead, the tech giant will report earnings the evening of Monday, April 25. 

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