Are Books Back? (BKS)

Shares of Barnes & Noble (BKS) are trading higher on the session by 4.55%, at $15.62. The stock has been trading higher for the past few weeks, recently popping strongly above the 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

With shares at a three-month high, one trader is buying upside calls today. Right at the opening bell, the January 2013 $20 call was purchased 11,025 times, near the offer, for $0.90. With open interest of only 6,070 contracts, this is clearly new positioning.

Today’s early call action has pushed overall call volume to 10.7x the daily volume with over 14,700 contracts traded.

Near-term implied volatility is near flat on the day, at 67.21%; this is inline with 10-day historical volatility, which is registering 65.98%.

Barnes & Noble, Inc. is a bookseller. The company is a content, commerce and technology company that provides customers access to books, magazines, newspapers and other content across its multi-channel distribution platform. 

About Michael Zerinskas

Originally from Chicago, Michael J. Zerinskas began his career as an intern for a small high-frequency trading firm based at the CME; he then moved on to become Chief Options Strategist at Benzinga.com. Michael is now Unusual Activity Editor at The Options Insider, specializing in VIX, volatility, and flagging unusual activity.