Traders could be betting on a floor for software ETF IGV
Digging into today's options trading activity, two names seeing unusual volumes are the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (BATS:IGV) and Fitbit Inc (NYSE:FIT). Here's a breakdown of the trading on IGV and FIT.
Starting with software sector exchange-traded fund (ETF) IGV, pressure from Autodesk (ADSK) has the security down 1.3% at $212.79. Still, it's up 22.6% this year, and is roughly 9 points above the 200-day moving average.
In the options pits, the bulk of today's activity has taken place at the November 210 call, and new positions are being opened. Some of these could be seeing sell-to-open activity, which would mean traders see the $210 level as a floor going forward.
There had been a lot of put activity on IGV coming into today at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). The 10-day put/call volume ratio there is an absurd 51.11, and the largest increases in open interest during this time were the September 205 and 210 puts.
Turning to FIT shares, they were last seen trading up 5.8% at $3.02, after the company launched a Versa 2 smartwatch, along with a health and fitness subscription service. Longer term, this move is nothing new for the stock, which remains down 39.5% this year, and actually hit an all-time low earlier of $2.81.
Momentum traders still appear to be moving in, with new positions likely being bought at the weekly 8/30 3- and 3.50-strike calls, as well as the weekly 9/6 3-strike call. Call volume overall is running in the 89th annual percentile.
Coming into today, near-term traders were heavily call-skewed, based on the Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.21. Not only does this show call open interest outweighs put open interest by almost 5-to-1, but the 6th annual percentile rank shows such a preference for calls is rare.
