FirstEnergy drew bullish options activity Friday after electrical workers ended a two-month strike against a Pennsylvania utility that is one of its subsidiaries.
Traders were focused on in-the-money options all the way out in 2010, where they were buying calls at the January 40 strike. More than 3,000 of those calls traded for $3.70 and $3.80 at six times the open interest, according to OptionMonster's tracking systems.
FE closed Friday at $40.65, off 0.37 percent on the session. The stock has risen sharply since bouncing from around $37 on July 8 but is still only about half its 52-week high of $79.05 from a year ago.
For the calls purchased Friday to be profitable, FirstEnergy's stock would need to rise at least 7.5 percent by the time the contracts expire in mid-January 2010. The company is scheduled to report second-quarter earnings results on Aug. 3.
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Mike Yamamoto is an analyst and writer for OptionMonster.
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