Ford Motor stock is 44.5% lower in 2022
Though it's trading higher today, last seen 4.2% higher at $15.02, Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) continues to struggle on the year, sitting well below its Jan. 13, 20-year high of $25.87. The shares' rally attempt in mid-August was stopped short near the $16.50 level, after running into overhead pressure at their 200-day moving average. While F is holding above its July 5, annual low of $10.61, it sits 44.5% lower year-to-date.
This recent underperformance has done nothing to turn away the bulls. In fact, the security just appeared on Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White's list of names that have attracted the highest weekly options volume in the past two weeks. Per this data, 2,021,779 calls and 1,541,774 puts were traded within this two-week time period. The weekly 9/30 13.50-strike call was the most popular contract, followed by the 9/30 12-strike put.
While calls did outnumber puts during these last two weeks, a broader look shows short-term options traders have favored puts. This is per F's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.64, which stands in the 96th percentile of annual readings. Puts have been gaining popularity at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), too, as Ford motor stock sports a 50-day put/call volume ratio that's higher than 72% of other readings from the past year.
Options look like a an ideal way to speculate on the equity's next move. This is per the F's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) of 98 out of 100, which indicates the stock has consistently realized bigger returns than options traders have priced in over the last 12 months.