It’s an ugly day for many of the top holdings of the Global X Social Media ETF (Ticker: SOCL), dragging shares in the fund down 3.75% in afternoon trading to $18.70. Activity in August expiry put options on the SOCL this morning suggests one trader is bracing for further weakness in the ETF through expiration.
The largest trade in SOCL options today was the purchase of a block of 4,000 now in-the-money Aug 19.0 strike puts for a premium of $0.80 per contract. The trade hit the tape within the first 15 minutes of the opening bell, and premium on the 19.0 puts has since inched higher as the price of the underlying shares slipped lower intraday. At last check, premium required to buy the Aug 19.0 strike puts is $1.10 per contract, or 37.5% higher than the $0.80 paid this morning for the bearish contracts.
The put position may be profitable at expiration next month if SOCL shares drop another 2.6% from the current price of $18.70 to breach the breakeven point at $18.20. Shares in the Social Media ETF last traded below $18.20 on June 9th.