U.S. Options-OnSale volatility, volume still firm
CHICAGO, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Implied volatility and volume stayed firm Wednesday in options on OnSale Inc (NasdaqNM:ONSL - news) as the stock continued its recent advance.
Implied vols for the December 22.5 calls stood at about 110 percent with the puts near 106 percent.
``It's up about 10 points for the calls,' said Adam Bloom, designated primary market maker with Flash Trading LLC at the Chicago Board Options Exchange. ``Basically, all we're seeing is December call buyers, mostly out-of-the-money.'
``There's definitely open interest on those lines, so it could be some shorts taking it off or it could be someone covering short stock' using calls, he added. He said options turnover Wednesday especially in the December and March expirations remained slightly above levels seen recently, when business had tapered off.
``My guess it that (volume) is maybe a little bit higher today but not much,' Bloom added. ``It got quiet for a week or so' and volume is picking up again.
At 1218 CST/1818 GMT on Wednesday, roughly 2,340 calls and 175 puts had changed hands on the four U.S. options exchanges combined. On Tuesday, about 3,000 options traded compared to the recent daily average of around 800 contracts.
The November 20 calls were up 3/8 at 2-1/16 on combined volume of about 480 and open interest of 2,576.
The December 22.5 calls firmed 1/2 to 2-13/16 on combined volume of about 95 and open interest of 1,143.
Shares of the California-based online software retailer have risen steadily since November 3, when the stock ended at 15-15/16, and on Tuesday they closed above 20 for the first time since mid-July.
Bloom also figured that traders were waiting for online software vendor Egghead.com Inc. (NasdaqNM:EGGS - news) shareholders to finalize voting on a merger with OnSale Inc.
On November 4, Egghead.com delayed its shareholder meeting until November 19 to allow more time for votes to be cast. The two companies agreed in July to merge.
OnSale shares early Wednesday afternoon were up 15/16 at 21-9/16 on Nasdaq volume of 1.2 million. |
