Trader positions for drop in Symantec
Symantec has had a great run, but now one trader apparently thinks that it's going lower.
optionMONSTER's Depth Charge monitoring program detected the purchase of 10,000 June 22 puts for $0.25 and the sale of an equal number of June 21 puts for $0.10. Volume was more than triple the open interest at each strike, indicating that new positions were initiated.
The trade cost $0.15 and will earn a maximum profit of 567 percent if the Internet-security stock closes at or below $21 on expiration. This could be a speculative downside bet or a hedge on a long position . (See our Education section for more on the strategy, which is known as a bearish put spread because it leverages a move between two prices.)
SYMC fell 2.37 percent to $23.06 yesterday. It rallied more than 80 percent between last July and March, only to stall at a key resistance level dating to late 2004. Guidance was also weak after the last earnings report on May 7 as the falling Japanese yen hurt overseas revenue.
Total option volume was 8 times greater than average in the session, with puts outnumbering calls by a similar proportion.
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