Bullish Flow:
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) closed with gains and higher call volume on Friday. Shares of the company gained 1.15 percent to settle at $55.38, while its options traded 7.6 times higher than its average volume. A total of 178,490 options were traded, out of which 152,763 were call options and 25,727 were put options. The top trading option was the March $57.50 call at $0.32, while the option's days range was $0.14 to $0.35. The bullish trading could be due to Wal-Mart's expected fourth quarter results.
Bearish Flow:
Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: BRCD) options trading were unusual on Friday. The company's stock closed gaining 5.98 percent at $6.38, while its options trading was 3.9 times above its average volume. The total put options traded were 12,728, compared to its average of 3,250. The reason for the bearish flow could be the stock's trading at 52 week high, and is due for some correction.
Index Trading:
Overall options volume in the index market was 542,000 calls and 646,000 puts on Friday. One index that did see more interest than usual is the European Style S&P 100 Index (.XEO). The OEX, in turn, is one of the few cash indexes that settle American-style. A total of 5,817 calls and 7,816 puts were traded on the XEO today, 3 times the normal volume for the index. Under the S&P 100 European Style Options, the option can only be exercised at the expiration, unlike the S&P 100 Index (.OEX) which settles an option American Style.
ETF Trading:
iShares Silver Fund (SLV) saw heavy trading, as silver resumed its run higher Friday. Silver (March) gained 98 cents to $32.55 and has now rallied more than 20 percent since late-January. Shares gained 2.44 percent or 76 cents to $31.79 and touch a new 52-week high on Friday. A net of 270,000 calls and 110,000 puts were traded on the ETF. Amongst the most actives were February 31 and 32 calls, while March 32 and 33 were the next most actives.
