A large trade is positioning for a potential pullback in LyondellBasell with shares near all-time highs.
optionMONSTER's Depth Charge system detected the purchase of 10,234 April 75 puts in less than 3 minutes Friday afternoon, led by a print of 8,232 that went for the ask price of $1.60. This is clearly a new position, as open interest was just 1,119 contracts before the session began.
These contracts lock in the price where the stock can be sold through mid-April no matter how far it might fall. The trade could be making an outright bearish bet or hedging a long position , but either way the puts will expire worthless if shares remain above $75. (See our Education section)
LYB closed Friday up 2.16 percent to $80.83. It fell sharply after hitting a lifetime high of $82.97 on Jan. 16 but found support at its 100-day moving average around $76 about a week later. The chemical company has seen choppy trading since reporting earnings at the end of last month but has been rising for the last three sessions and is now back above its 50-day moving average.
Total option volume in LYB topped 17,100 contracts on Friday, triple its daily average for the last month. Overall puts outnumbered calls by 2 to 1.
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