One investor wants to give MarkWest Energy more time to rally.
optionMONSTER's Heat Seeker monitoring system detected the purchase of about 10,000 November 72.50 calls for $2.10 and the sale of an equal number of August 72.50 calls for $0.05. The transaction was split into two large blocks in the first half of Friday's session.
Volume was below open interest in the August contracts, indicating that an existing long-call position was closed and rolled out in time. Making the adjustment cost the investor $2.05 and gave him or her an additional three months to benefit from upside in the natural-gas transportation stock. (See our Education section)
MWE rose 1.30 percent to $69.90 on Friday and is up 37 percent so far this year. The company is one of many domestic-energy names to run higher as oil and gas production ramps up within the United States.
The shares peaked at $71.46 in May and have been consolidating below that level since. The November 72.50s would provide potentially significant leverage to a breakout to new highs.
Total option volume was 8 times greater than average in Friday's session, with calls outnumbering puts by a bullish 163-to-1 ratio.
More From optionMONSTER