Options were bullish yesterday on the financials, which have been solid recently and were key to yesterday's broad market rally.
The paper was especially heavy in Bank of America, which rallied 3.97 percent to finish at $11 even. More than 680,000 contracts traded in BAC, including 473,000 calls, according to optionMONSTER's scanners.
The December and January contracts dominated the activity, led by the December 11s, which traded in large size for $0.05 to $0.11. These options expire at the end of this week, so traders are looking for the stock to keep moving in the near term.
Calls lock in the price where investors can buy stock, so the options can generate nice leverage if the bet is right. However, they can become worthless in a hurry if it's not. (See our Education section)
Morgan Stanley also lit up our systems, with almost 52,000 contracts changing hands. January was the main target, so those options are definitely looking for a New Year's pop in the bank's shares. MS rose 2.66 percent to $18.53, while calls outnumbered puts by about 34,000 to 17,700.
Disclosure: I own BAC calls.
(A version of this post appeared on InsideOptions Pro yesterday.)
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