A large put purchase is positioning for a possible pullback in the SPDR Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Fund.
A trader bought 8,748 July 80 puts for the ask price of $1.33 yesterday, according to optionMONSTER's Depth Charge tracking system. Open interest in the strike was just 1,885 contracts before the trade appeared, so it is clearly a new position.
The puts weren't tied to any stock trades identified by our scanners in the session, so they could have been purchased in an outright bearish play that is looking for the XOP to fall below $80 by expiration in mid-July. Alternatively, they could be a hedge on an existing long position in the exchange-traded fund or its component companies. (See our Education section)
The XOP was down 0.25 percent yesterday to close at $81.32. Shares have been trending higher from support at $64 since early February and reached an all-time high of $84.04 on Monday.
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