As of today the top ten stock options traded were:
- S&P 500 SPDR (NYSE:SPY) November 105 Put Options
- S&P 500 SPDR March 91 Put Options
- S&P 500 SPDR March 92 Put Options
- S&P 500 SPDR November 104 Put Options
- PowerShares QQQ (NASDAQ:QQQQ) December 40 Put Options
- S&P 500 SPDR November 103 Put Options
- S&P 500 SPDR November 106 Call Options
- PowerShares QQQ November 41 Put Options
- S&P 500 SPDR November 106 Put Options
- S&P 500 SPDR November 102 Put Options
As you can see there is mainly bearish betting going on in the options market. I believe we could see this market trade down to 900 on the S&P before we can move higher. It would be nice to see the market pair some of its losses next week, but in anticipation for Friday’s unemployment report, I believe we could see continued weakness in the early part of next week. I actually opened a put spread on the Dow Diamonds ETF (NYSE:DIA) for the November 95/90. I opened this position on slight volatility collapse before the weekend at roughly 3:45 PM. I also closed my put position on the Direxion Financial 3X Bull (NYSE:FAS) as it neared $1050 per option contract. I will look to reopen it if we can get some strength Monday. As stated Wednesday, there was some bullish option betting going on as we approached a 5% replacement from the highs on the S&P, and it looks as if it was the right play if closed yesterday. However today I did not see any similar bullish activity as the market dropped below that same 5% level, therefore I cannot say we should get any strength in the coming week. One thing I noticed on Citigroup (NYSE:C) as it traded within pennies of its Wednesday low was that some buying came into it pushing it back up to as high as 4.15. I am using weakness to get into stocks and ETF’s that I feel I have missed out on, but I am selling put options on them. I feel this is the best way to take advantage of getting the stock lower, and taking advantage of the rising volatility we are seeing in the market. Have a good weekend – happy trading!
