“optionMONSTER’s tracking program detected the sale of 5,000 March 65 puts sold for $0.06 and the purchase of 5,000 April 65 puts for $0.69 today. Volume was below open interest in the near-term contracts, which expire at the end of this week, indicating that a bearish position was rolled forward by a month,” according to optionMONSTER.
XLV is heavily allocated to blue-chip pharmaceuticals names, such as Dow components Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Merck (NYSE: MRK) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), but the ETF also devotes more than 20% of its weight to biotechnology stocks.
“Puts outnumbered calls by a bearish 4-to-1 ratio” in XLV on Wednesday, according to optionMONSTER.
Health Care Select Sector SPDR
