Options volume on the provider of futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities, metals and alternative investment products is well above average on Thursday morning, due in large part to a sizable put spread initiated in the 19Sep’14 expiry contracts. Shares in CME Group (Ticker: CME) are up slightly on the day, trading 0.25% higher at $74.34 as of the time of this writing.
The largest trade on CME today appears to be a bear put spread in which roughly 1,500 of the 19Sep’14 74.0 strike puts were purchased at a premium of $1.44 each against the sale of the same number of the 69.0 strike puts at a premium of $0.26 apiece. The net cost of the trade amounts to $1.18 per contract and establishes a breakeven price of $72.82, which is 2.0% below the last-traded price of the underlying shares. Maximum possible gains of $3.82 are available on the spread in the event that CME Group’s shares drop 6.8% to $69.00 by September expiration in four weeks. The put spread could be a hedge to protect a long position in the underlying stock, or an outright bearish stance on the futures exchange that profits from near-term weakness in the share price. Shares in CME Group last traded below $69.00 in May. Overall options volume on the name is above 4,600 contracts, which is more than three times the average daily reading of around 1,200 contracts.
