Think the economic times are ripe for payday-loan companies? The options market is saying "think again," according to one analyst.
Fears are on the rise that state legislatures, alarmed by the short-term interest rates typically charged by these companies, may move to curtail the industry, Rebecca Darst of Interactive Brokers said on CNBC's "Squawk Box." Just this week Ohio made such a move.
"All the payday-loan companies, the companies that operate these sort of franchises in states around the country, they just got slammed yesterday, and I think the reason is that we're suddenly alarmed by the sort of wham-bam legislation," she said.