The Global X FTSE Greece 20 ETF (NYSEArca: GREK) finished May with a slight gain. Amid renewed concerns that Greece is headed for departure from the Eurozone, that is no small feat for the lone Greece exchange traded fund.
Greece has a debt of $1.74 billion to the International Monetary Fund coming due next month. All eyes will be on Greece’s Syriza government in the coming weeks as it manages to settle outstanding debt with creditors. The government will have to scrape together enough cash to pay off a June 5 debt deadline to the International Monetary Fund, but many fear Greece will default on the loan.
Those concerns have not prevented options traders from making bullish bets on the $313.8 million GREK.
“While open interest in the ETF’s options has increased 23 percent since the start of May, the rise in the calls, usually used for bullish bets, is four times that in the puts. For every open put contract there are two calls open, the most bullish this ratio has been since early November,” reports Saqib Iqbal Ahmed for Reuters.
Combined open interest in the GREK $13, $14 and $15 strike calls was almost 8,700 contracts late Friday, according to OptionMonster data. With GREK trading around $12.20, none of those contracts are in the money. Conversely, open interest in the equivalent strike puts is barely over 3,200 contracts.