(The following is an example of notable trading cited on optionMONSTER's InsideOptions Pro service yesterday.)
Traders turned bullish on Continental Resources and Anadarko Petroleum yesterday as the two oil drillers tried to fight back from their recent selloffs.
Continental lit up optionMONSTER's Heat Seeker system first , with about 7,700 March 50 calls purchased for $0.25 to $0.35. APC followed minutes later as traders snapped up about 4,600 March 90 calls for $0.28. Volume was above the previous open interest in both strikes, which means new money was put to work.
Long calls lock in the price where investors can buy stock, which lets them position for rallies with limited risk. The relatively low cost of the options can also result in significant leverage if shares move in the right direction. (See our Education section)
Energy names have been a tough trade for both bulls and bears recently with fluctuations in the price of crude, but yesterday's call buyers were using inexpensive contracts in hopes of a quick spike higher.
CLR rose 2.13 percent to $43.61 yesterday, and APC ended the session up 0.93 percent to $82.78. Both companies bottomed in mid-December and rebounded in the next two months.
Total option volume was almost 5 times greater than average in APC and triple normal amounts in CLR. Calls outnumbered puts by wide margins in both names.
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