V – Visa, Inc. – Shares in Visa are moving lower today, declining as much as 2.5% to $199.93 during morning trading after a large block of 8 million Visa shares priced at $201.25 was reportedly sold via JPMorgan. Upside call options changing hands on the global payment company, however, suggest one or more traders are positioning for the price of the underlying to make a quick recovery.
The Dec 06 ’13 $205 strike calls have traded more than 1,300 times so far today against open interest of 822 contracts. Some of the volume appears to have been purchased in the early going at a premium of $0.45 each. Traders long the calls at a premium of around $0.45 per contract may profit at expiration this week if shares in Visa rally 1.6% over the current price of $202.24 to exceed the breakeven point at $205.45. The stock is now off the lowest levels of the session; intraday gains in the price of the underlying has lifted the value of the weekly $205 strike calls to $0.67 each as of the time of this writing.
TWTR – Twitter, Inc. – Weekly options changing hands on Twitter this morning look for shares in the name to continue to regain ground during the next few trading sessions and potentially reach the highest level since November 21st ahead of the weekend. Shares in TWTR are up 0.50% on the session at $40.98 just after 11:00 a.m. EST.
The most traded contracts on Twitter thus far in the session are the Dec 06 ’13 $42 calls, with roughly 7,600 calls in play against open interest of 837 contracts. A large proportion of the $42 calls traded appear to have been purchased within the first 10 minutes of the opening bell at a premium of $0.40 each. Traders long the calls stand ready to profit at expiration this week in the event that Twitter’s shares rise 3.5% over the current level of $40.98 to exceed the breakeven price of $42.40.
