The car maker plans to increase production
Lost in the "meme stock" craze is one automaker's big announcement. General Motors (NYSE:GM) stock is up 5.4% to trade at $62.88 at last check, earlier hitting a fresh record high of $63.58. The company today announced its plan to ramp up production of large- and mid-sized pickup trucks as demand rises, plus, the auto maker lifted its guidance for the first half of this year.
GM has been rallying on the charts since the 100-day moving average -- a trendline of support since July of 2020 -- captured its mid-May pullback. The equity is now up an impressive 51.5% year-to-date, on track for its third-straight week of gains.
Today's price action has options bulls charging in. So far, 254,000 calls have crossed the tape, which is five times what's typically seen at this point, in comparison to 45,000 puts. The June 60 call is the most popular, followed by the weekly 6/4 63-strike call, with new positions being opened at the latter.
The good news for these options traders is that GM sports attractively priced premiums at the moment. The stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 31% stands higher than just 3% of all other readings in its annual range, implying that options players are pricing in relatively low volatility expectations at the moment.