As of today Tuesday September 29, 2009 the top ten most active option contracts were:
- Citigroup (NYSE:C) October 5 Call Options
- American Express (NYSE:AXP) December 25 Call Options
- Financial SPDR (NYSE:XLF) December 17 Call Options
- Financial SPDR December 19 Call Options
- iShares Russell 2000 Index ETF (NYSE:IWM) October 59 Put Options
- iShares MSCI Japan Index ETF (NYSE:EWJ) January 8 Put Options
- S&P 500 SPDR ETF (NYSE:SPY) October 105 Put Options
- CIT Group (NYSE:CIT) October 2.50 Call Options
- CIT Group October 2 Call Options
- PowerShares QQQ (NASDAQ:QQQQ) October 40 Put Options
American Express will be spinning a dividend of 18 cents out before trade Wednesday which is likely the reason behind very active options. Looking ahead to the December expiration it looks as though one strategist may have been opening vertical call spreads for the XLF 17/19. Options activity picked up on CIT Group as the stock crossed 2 a share Tuesday. I looked at opening vertical call spreads for the October 2/2.50 which could have been bought between $15 – $20 per spread to capture $50 if CIT traded at or above 2.50 a share at expiration.
