Option Bulls Salute Oilfield-Service Provider RPC
RPC Inc. flew a bullish flag last week, and the bulls are saluting.
OptionMonster's real-time systems detected a surge of call buying in the oil-service stock yesterday, with about 2,300 February 22.50s purchased for $0.55 to $0.65. Volume was 10 times open interest in the strike.
These long calls lock in an entry price investors must pay for the stock and therefore can provide major leverage against the underlying shares. In fact, that's exactly what happened yesterday.
RPC was trading for about $19.46, up almost 7 percent, when the calls changed hands. It continued higher throughout the session and closed 12 percent higher at $20.51.
The calls, however, translated that same move into a gain of 60 percent to 90 percent gain, fetching $1.05 in the afternoon.
Overall option volume was 14 times greater than average yesterday, with calls outnumbering puts by a bullish 27-to-1 ratio.
—Russell has no positions in RES.
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David Russell is a reporter and writer for OptionMonster.
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