The top ten most active stock option contracts traded today were:
- PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish (NYSE:UUP) March 24 Call Options
- S&P 500 SPDR (NYSE:SPY) November 105 Put Options
- S&P 500 SPDR November 110 Call Options
- S&P 500 SPDR December 2010 50 Put Options
- PowerShares QQQ (NASDAQ:QQQQ) December 40 Put Options
- PowerShares QQQ November 41 Put Options
- S&P 500 SPDR November 107 Call Options
- Citigroup (NYSE:C) November 4 Put Options
- SunMicrosystems (NASDAQ:JAVA) November 9 Call Options
- PowerShares QQQ November 42 Put Options
As you may have noticed the activity on the SPY seemed to be a bit more bullish than the past few days. This may be because we are down 5% from the recent high, and some traders may be thinking we could rally higher. The GDP number is ideal tomorrow, and I believe if it the least bit bullish we could see a nice rally. The dollar got stronger today making it 5 days in a row, and as you can see the most active option on my screen today was the UUP for March. I will hopefully have time this weekend to write a post about how to profit from a stronger dollar. I took profits in my put position on the FAS today as the NYSE Financial Index broke below the recent lows of 4647. I closed my position in the November FAS 85 puts and purchased November 65 Puts which will accelerate much faster than the 85 if the financials continue to sell off. I closed my Visa 72.50 puts this morning for $70 per contract and half of my 67.5 strike puts for $10 per option contract and the other half for $15 (I hate when that happens). I do still hold the 70 strike put options which were down, but make for a cheap hedge in case MasterCard reports poor numbers and Visa sells off with it. I watched Palm (PALM) approach a key support level today at 12.50 and as it traded off of 12.50 per share I sold 12.50 strike put options for $90 per option contract. I believe Palm will stabilize soon, as the cheaper they get the more attractive they become to a “bigger fish”. I will not be posting Thursday as I am traveling and will not have access to the Internet. Happy trading!