JOY – Joy Global Inc. – Shares in the manufacturer and servicer of mining equipment rallied as much as 3.2% today to $59.35, the highest level in almost six months. The stock is up more than 20% since the end of August, but is still down roughly 10.0% year to date.
Trading in Nov 08 ’13 expiry call options near the start of the session suggests some options players are positioning for shares in Joy Global to continue higher ahead of the weekend. The most traded of these weekly contracts are the Nov 08 ’13 $59 strike calls, with around 1,700 lots in play against open interest of 83 contracts. Time and sales data suggests most of the $59 calls were purchased for an average premium of $0.37 apiece this morning. Traders long the call options stand ready to profit at expiration this week in the event that JOY shares settle above the average breakeven price of $59.37. The Nov 08 ’13 $60 strike calls also attracted fresh interest in the early going, with roughly 700 contracts traded by 11:15 a.m. EST. Most of the $60 calls appear to have been purchased at premiums of $0.41 and $0.35 each.
Overall options volume on Joy Global is above the daily average, with more than 12,000 contracts traded as compared to the stock’s average daily level of approximately 7,800 contracts. Calls are far more active than put options this morning, with the call/put ratio near 6.5 as of the time of this writing.
