Many investors ignore options trading because options are complex and misunderstood. However, many other traders have learned to “follow the flow.”

In other words, they want to know what the significant funds and institutions are doing. When these buyers move in the options world, they leave a trail behind them — footsteps.

We can follow in those footsteps when looking for unusual options activity.

Thankfully, there’s a leader board of options activity for both calls and puts, helping us keep track of it when we see outsized volume. Let’s look at some of the most exciting action of the past week.

General Dynamics (GD)

General Dynamics (US:GD) came in at No. 3 on the leader board, and it’s not hard to see why.

This name is unknown for many options trades, and only one shows up. That’s after a trader bought $2.15 million worth of the $230 calls expiring in January 2024. These calls have more than a year before expiration and are just $5 out of the money right now.

DraftKings (DKNG)

Is there some speculation in DraftKings (US:DKNG) as investors search for a bottom in growth stocks? The options flow may not necessarily suggest a base, but someone expects some upside in the next few weeks.

On October 12th, a trader bought $178,000 worth of premium in the $13.50 calls with a weekly expiration of November 11th. They returned a few minutes later and scooped up another $84,000 premiums.

In the second transaction, the trader bought the calls over the ask, meaning they wanted these calls and pursued them aggressively.

A day later, another trader stepped in and bought the $13.50 calls expiring two weeks later on Nov. 25, paying ~$76,500 in premium.

Twitter (TWTR)

While it’s undoubtedly a bet on Elon Musk’s buyout of Twitter (US:TWTR), some interesting trades popped up on October 7th. Multiple transactions took place in the $50 calls expiring on October 28th.

With three weeks until expiration at the time of the trade, one trader bought $669,000 in premium, then a few minutes later came in above the ask and paid $2.19 million in premium.

Those are some big, aggressive bets with a short time until expiration.

Chesapeake Energy (CHK)

While it was a favorite among penny-stock investors, Chesapeake Energy (US:CHK) is back on its feet after relisting on the Nasdaq.

This trade was pretty straightforward.

On October 12th and with less than 10 days until expiration, one trader dropped $900,000 in premium when they bought the October $100 calls, with shares trading at $100.81.

This at-the-money trade is a play on a short-term rally in Chesapeake stock.

Camping World Holdings (CWH)

I always like seeing the big options trades in the smaller stocks that tend to command lower volume. Camping World Holdings (US:CWH) fits the bill with its $2 billion market.

On October 10, someone bought the $27.09 calls expiring in January and paid $573,000 in premium. While the stock was trading near $26.50 at the time, it’s now slightly in the money as it trades near $27.50.

iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (HYG)

We also keep track of options flow for ETFs; in that respect, two trades stand out to me. The first is in the iShares iBoxx High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (US:HYG).

Over the past week, the HYG ETF is the No. 1 ranked ETF for options flow. While it is interesting that someone bought the $72 and $73 calls with just 2 to 3 three days until expiration (paying $58,000 and $28,000, respectively), the bigger trades came earlier this week.

On October 11th, we saw two trades worth roughly $1.9 million in premium apiece flow into the October $72.50 calls. With just 10 days to expire at the time, this trader (or traders) was looking for a short-term rally in the HYG.

iShares iBoxx $ Inv Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD)

I said two trades stood out to me because they were both in corporate bond funds, as the iShares iBoxx Inv Grade Corporate Bond ETF (US:LQD) ranked No. 2 on the list.

Like the HYG ETF, the trades on the LQD came on October 11th as the buyer again lit up the calls that were expiring in 10 days on October 21st. Like the HYG, these were slightly out-of-the-money calls and the trades took place throughout the afternoon.

Traders bought $1.2 million in premium for the $103 calls, then $38,500 in premium for the same calls about 20 minutes later and finally, about $53,000 in the same calls almost two hours later.

This article originally appeared on Fintel

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