Unusual Options Trading Screens (EK, ETFC, ODP, ARNA, FCX, S, FORM, POT)

Investing

Published: September 19, 2009 10:33 am

Last Updated: April 3, 2020 3:45 pm

It is the weekend, and that means that our end-of-week screen for unusual options trading activity is complete. Of course expiration date throws a wrench in any screens, but we found some very unusual options trading in others not tied to options expiration and roll-out trades. We have provided a link through to each for more color and analysis on the specific options and stock moves at VSInvestor.com:

Eastman Kodak Co. (NYSE: EK) tanked on high stock volume from the KKR deal this week. But the real impressive area was the unusual options trading.

E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: ETFC) is under $2.00, yet options trading is looking very active. Here we gave price triggers to watch out for as possible resistance, if you can use such a thing on a $2.00 stock.

Office Depot, Inc. (NYSE: ODP) is very rare to see on the unusual stock options list, yet there it was. The big trade was out to January.

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARNA) was not just impressive. It was a huge winner since it was down and then closed up and saw high options and stock trading. This will be a key watch-list stock for traders this coming week. The options trading may have been a roll-out.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) very active compared to normal volume in options trading, yet not in the stock volume… $1,000 gold is the likely trigger.

Sprint Nextel Corp. (NYSE: S) was very active in stocks and in options, probably a continued bet that management and operations may need to learn to speak German….

FormFactor Inc. (NASDAQ: FORM) may be a hedge or income trade of some sort, but this is a very odd pattern by any measure.

Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, Inc. (NYSE: POT) saw a bullish bias in the options roll as September-2009 contracts expired.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. You can join our open email distribution list which goes out several times per week for top day trader alerts, options screens, analyst upgrades and downgrades, IPO’s, key secondary offerings, guru investor data on Buffett and others, mergers, and more.

JON C. OGG

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