Ciena fell on a weak earnings report yesterday, but that wasn't enough to keep down the heavily shorted tech stock.
's tracking programs detected unusual activity in the July 15 calls, which traded 5,409 times against open interest of 768 contracts. Large institutional purchases for $1.60 accounted for the bulk of the activity.
The stock leapt 10 percent to $15.36 in morning trading and is up 20 percent in the last month. The maker of telecom gear traded as low as $13.04 yesterday after reporting weak earnings and providing a weak revenue forecast.
However, Ciena found support above its 50-day moving average, which recently crossed back above its 200-day moving average. Chart watchers may interpret the price action as evidence of a bullish uptrend.
Short interest in the stock stood at a lofty 21 percent of the float on Feb. 12. Short sellers may have bet heavily against the shares after yesterday's report and then were forced to cover after today's positive employment data.
The March 15 calls were the most active, with a mix of buying and selling. However at 7,614, volume was below open interest in the strike.
Overall options activity in CIEN is more than twice the average level so far today. Calls account for almost three-quarters of the volume.
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Ciena Competes With:
Alcatel-Lucent
Cisco Systems
Juniper Networks
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David Russell is a reporter and writer for .
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