IB Options Brief: Office Depot, Inc. (ODP) & LyondellBasell Industries NV (LYB)

Posted April 12th, 2012 by Caitlin Duffy in Unusual Activity

ODP ñ Office Depot, Inc.
The single-largest trade in Office Depot options this morning appears to be a vote of confidence in the office supplies retailer, initiated by an investor positioning for shares in the name to trade north of $2.50 through October expiration. Shares today rose 3.5% to stand at $3.23 as of 12:45 p.m. in New York. It looks like the strategist responsible for the bullish bet on ODP sold 2,500 puts at the Oct. $2.5 strike to pocket premium of $0.25 per contract. The trader keeps the full amount of premium as long as shares in Office Depot exceed $2.50 at expiration. The put seller could wind up having 250,000 shares of the underlying put to him at an effective price of $2.25 a share should the options land in-the-money at expiration.

LYB ñ LyondellBasell Industries NV
Options trading on chemical producer, LyondellBasell Industries, suggests one strategist is positioning for shares in the Rotterdam-based Company to potentially rally to fresh all-time highs during the next five months. Shares in LYB are up 3.2% this afternoon to stand at $42.53. Signs of bullish sentiment cropped up in the September expiry options, where it looks like one trader purchased a 2,200-lot Sep. $45/$55 call spread for a net premium of $2.70 per contract. The spread yields profits at expiration as long as shares in LYB rally another 12.2% to surpass the effective breakeven price of $47.70, while maximum potential profits of $7.30 per contract are available in the event that LYBís shares jump 29.3% to top $55.00. LyondellBasell is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings ahead of the opening bell on April 30th.

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