Traders are wagering on end-of-week moves for Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) and Twitter Inc (TWTR)
The 20 stocks listed in the table below have attracted the highest total
weekly options volume during the past 10 trading days. Names highlighted are new to the list since the last time the study was run, and data is courtesy of Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White. Two notable names are streaming specialist
Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) and microblogging platform
Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR).
NFLX has had quite the run in 2015, more than doubling in value to trade at $99.91 -- including a 1.9% advance today. In fact,
no other S&P 500 Index (SPX) component has had a more impressive year. Helping the shares recently was a swift bounce off their 32-week moving average, which contained a late-August pullback.
The options crowd has recognized NFLX's long-term outperformance. The stock's 10-day
call/put volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) is 1.12 -- with long calls outstripping puts. Also, this ratio ranks near the top one-third of comparable readings from the previous year.
In today's option pits, short-term traders are on the prowl, eyeing end-of-week gains and losses. Specifically, Netflix, Inc.'s in-the-money weekly 9/25 98-strike call is seeing buy-to-open activity, as are the out-of-the-money weekly 9/25 97- and 98-strike
puts.
Shifting our gaze,
TWTR has had a rough go of it lately. With today's 4.8% loss to trade at $25.51, the shares have surrendered 28.9% on the year, and
touched a record low of $21.01 roughly one month ago, during the
August bloodbath.
Option bears have been trying to capitalize on the downtrend. TWTR's 50-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 0.43 ranks in the 83rd percentile of its annual range. On top of that, the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) sits at 0.97 -- just 1 percentage point from a 12-month peak. In short, traders wagering on options with a shelf-life of three months or less have rarely been so
put-focused.
Skeptics are once again active today, likely purchasing new positions at the weekly 9/25 25.50-strike put. However, others are counting on an end-of-week bounce, buying to open Twitter Inc's weekly 9/25 26-strike call.