A ratio call spread initiated on Microsoft Corp. (Ticker: MSFT) on Wednesday (July 16) suggests one big options market participant may be looking for shares in the software company to extend gains after the firm reports earnings on July 22nd. The stock jumped on Wednesday and is up again today after the company reported it will cut up to 18,000 jobs over the next year. The stock is currently up more than 3.0% at $45.54 as of 9:35 a.m. ET. The trader yesterday appeared to have sold 20,890 of the 15Aug’14 43.0 strike calls at a premium of around $1.04 each in order to buy roughly 3.3 times as many (68,899 contracts) of the higher 15Aug’14 45.0 strike calls at a premium of $0.34 apiece. The trade cost a little more than one nickel per contract to put on and positions the trader to make money if shares blow through the $46.00-level by expiration. The complexity of the ratio spread and the sale of in-the-money call options suggests the strategist may have a position in the stock, though the options trade itself was not tied to stock according to data available at the time of the transaction.
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