Midday Unusual Options Activity Update: UBS, NFLX, TIN, TIF, BBY, ECL, ESRX

Posted September 15th, 2011 by Joseph Cusick in Unusual Activity

Implied Volatility Movers And Unusual Volume Movers For Midday 9/15/2011

Implied Volatility Movers

UBS is down $1.40 to $11.28 and falling to new 52-week lows on news a rogue trader has cost the bank approximately $2 billion losses. Meanwhile, options volume in UBS is running 14X the daily average. 12,000 calls and 10,000 puts traded in the name so far. October and December 12 calls are the most actives. Implied volatility in options on the Swiss bank is up about 6 percent to 73.

Unusual Volume Movers

NetFlix (NFLX) options volume is running 3X the (22-day) average, with 173,000 contracts traded and put activity accounting for 51 percent of the volume.

Temple Inland (TIN) options volume is 3X the average daily, with 58,000 contracts traded and call volume representing 99 percent of the activity.

Tiffany (TIF) options volume is running 7X the average daily, with 50,000 contracts traded and call volume representing 97 percent of the total volume.

Increasing options activity is also being seen in Best Buy (BBY), Ecolab (ECL), and Express Scripts (ESRX).

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About Joseph Cusick

Joseph Cusick currently serves as the Senior Vice President of Education and a Senior Market Analyst for optionsXpress. Mr. Cusick seeks out common sense and technologically scalable educational pathways for self-directed investors of all experience levels. He is largely responsible for ramping up delivery of online and offline seminars to customers and potential clients worldwide. Prior to serving in his current role, Mr. Cusick immersed himself in the broker side of optionsXpress by managing his own book of business. Prior to joining optionsXpress, Mr. Cusick served as a market maker and portfolio manager at the Chicago Board of Options Exchange. Joseph is a graduate of Marquette University and holds his Series 4, 7 and 63 registrations with FINRA.

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