As the iShares China Large-Cap ETF (FXI) has fallen 10% over the past month, Jon and Pete Najarian discussed some unusual ETF options activity regarding a possible bounce, during CNBC’s “Halftime Report” on Thursday.
Jon noted the big sell-off in the past month, and explained further that a significant turnaround being hoped for by investors will not come until November. With November 39 Calls, FXI bought 10,000 shares Thursday morning, later on, it moved up to nearly 16,000 (or a 1.6 million share equivalent).
Next up for Jon was the mining fund, Agnico-Eagle MN (AEM). It was up around $0.60 on the session. November is also a key time here, he noted, with November 55 put volume showing that people may be anticipating a slowing down for the recent rise in gold.
Pete then stepped in to talk about the Industrial SPDR (XLI). As he noted, when the stock was trading higher, investors were purchasing the August 23-expiring 72 puts. On Thursday, 5,000 puts were being sold so they can buy time by buying these puts that range around $1.
With this strategy, Pete added, “I don’t know that these industrials have come under the pressure that they might still have, given what we have in the backdrop right now with the market, so I decided to jump in as well.”
Moving on to Bank of America (BAC), which is going out to October 28 strike calls, it appeared high. As a result, there were huge buys. Over 12,000 were bought, but investors were paying around $0.70 for these options.
“It’s still a bullish strategy, but I’m using this implied volatility to sell,” Pete added. “So, I’m selling this implied volatility out there, against a stock position. Still a bullish thing, but I’m not buying these calls.”
Watch the Jon & Pete Najarian discuss ETF options on CNBC’s “Halftime Report”:
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