Shares of Genworth Financial have been beaten senseless, down more than 90 percent from their 52-week high, but options activity shows that the stock still has a pulse.
Traders are buying February calls in GNW , which closed yesterday at just $2.26. The February 2.50 calls are trading at more than double the open interest. OptionMonster's tracking systems show that institutional-size buyers are paying $0.35 and $0.40 to purchase those calls.
The contracts have a limited amount of time for the stock to rise high enough to yield a profit--about a month until they expire. Genworth, a financial security company exposed in insurance and investments, did reach $3 as recently as Jan. 12, but it also fell to $1.70 in intraday trading three days later.
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Pete Najarian is a professional investor, CNBC contributor, Fast Money regular, and cofounder of OptionMonster.com.
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