It is also important to note that April expiration will cover the expected earnings releases of major components here (JPM, WFC, BAC, C), so this activity could very well be an earnings play.
Relevant “short” or “inverse” ETFs in the Financials space that will likely see increased activity in the near term include FAZ (Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3X, Expense Ratio 0.95%), SEF (ProShares Short Financials, Expense Ratio 0.95%), SKF (ProShares UltraShort Financials, Expense Ratio 0.95%), FINZ (ProShares UltraPro Short Financials, Expense Ratio 0.95%), FAZ has especially seen a huge spike in volume in recent sessions as has SKF, which is not at all coincidental given the recent options flows in Financials.
The next few weeks should be very interesting given the upcoming earnings calendar and we will continue to monitor flows (net inflows recently in XLF >$450 million interestingly) and any additional options activity in the sector that may shed some light on how the end of the quarter may round out and heading into earnings season.
For more information on Street One ETF research and ETF trade execution/liquidity services, contact Paul Weisbruch at [email protected].