3 names seeing heavy options trading today
Three names seeing unusual options activity today are Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL), and TJX Companies Inc (NYSE:TJX). Below we'll break down why options traders are targeting GILD, ORCL, and TJX in today's trading.
GILD stock is trading up 2.9% today at $72.16, as traders monitor the coronavirus outbreak, with Gilead Sciences' drug remdesivir seen by many as the favorite option to potentially treat patients with the virus. This puts the healthcare concern on pace to close February with a gain of more than 14%.
In the meantime, traders today are opening positions at the weekly 2/28 73-strike call, while new positions are also opening at the weekly 3/27 75-strike call. Traders were already hammering GILD call options before today, based on data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). Almost 131,000 long calls were opened in the past 10 days there, compared to just 18,600 puts. Peak open interest is at the April 80 call, and second goes to the March 80 call.
Turning to ORCL, call volume is booming today, due to heavy trading at the March 57 call. All signs are pointing to buy-to-open activity here, with more than 74,000 of the contracts crossing so far today. This would be way more than enough to make the strike home to peak open interest, but right now that claim goes to the January 2021 35-strike put, where about 41,000 contracts are open.
This activity comes with Oracle stock sitting in oversold territory, based on its 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 28. The shares were last seen trading at $52.75, and the $50-$52 area has proven to be a strong floor over the past year for the software giant.
Finally, TJX stock is in focus after the retailer's well-received earnings release, which has the shares trading at record highs, up 7.3% at $64.06 at last check. This brings the equity's one-year rise to almost 29%. In the options pits, one trader seems to have initiated a spread trade with the April 62.50 put and April 67.50 call. From a broader view, the March 65 call was home to peak open interest before today.