![]()
Groupon Inc (GRPN) could receive $1 billion from its Ticket Monster investment
Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) has tacked on 1.6% today to linger near $7.42, amid speculation the online coupon concern may be considering selling its majority stake in South Korea's Ticket Monster Inc -- which could result in a roughly $1 billion cash infusion for GRPN. Options traders are taking kindly to the news, with calls outpacing puts by a 13-to-1 margin.
Drilling down, bulls appear to be buying to open the near-the-money weekly 2/6 7.50-strike call, as they roll the dice on more upside through tomorrow's close -- when the weekly series expires. Thanks to today's pop, delta on the call has jumped to 0.40 from 0.28 at last night's close, indicating a greater chance the position will be in the money at expiration.
Widening the sentiment scope reveals options traders have shown a distinct preference for calls over puts in recent months. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), GRPN's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 10.06 sits just 5 percentage points from an annual bullish peak. With more than 19% of the stock's float sold short, though, a portion of this call buying could be a result of shorts hedging their bearish bets.
On the charts, GRPN has had a fairly uninspiring start to the year, with the shares off around 10.2%. However, this downward trajectory was recently contained by the equity's 200-day moving average -- a trendline that served as a springboard for Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) in mid-December.