Unusual Options Activity in Global Payments Inc. (GPN)

Today, December 30, 2021, among the underlying components of the NYSE, we saw unusual or noteworthy options trading volume and activity in Global Payments Inc., which opened at $134.25.

• There were 3,984 contracts traded on the $150 strike call option dated for February 18th, 2021, bought to open at the ask.

A tip from the flow:  Trades appended with 🛍️ can be intuited as bought or sold to open. This determination is made if the size of the trade was greater than the chain's open interest.  

Only trades that can be positively identified as being bought or sold to open will be marked as such (with the 🛍️ symbol).  

Be mindful! Trades without the 🛍️ symbol might still have been bought or sold to open!

These orders come just ahead of Global Payments Inc. paying out its dividends today.

Regardless if the flow shows immaculate call volume or bullish betting today, you might want to pay additional attention to the calls being traded.  You might be seeing market makers that are looking to capture as much of the dividend as possible, who are looking to exercise deep in the money call options.

The January 21st, 2022 $150 strike call option is the most traded chain thus far today, with 16,426 volume, albeit with 17,829 open interest.  What is noteworthy, however, is the February 18th, 2022 $150 strike call contract, which has nearly ten times as much volume as its open interest.

To view more information about GPN's daily flow breakdown, click here to visit unusualwhales.com.

Unusual Options Activity in DiDi Global Inc. (DIDI)

Again in the NYSE, we saw unusual or noteworthy options trading volume and activity in DiDi Global Inc. (DIDI), which opened today at $4.78.

• There were a series of orders on the $5 strike put option dated for January 7th, 2022, traded at or around the bid, in sizes of 1,428, 1,456, and 1,974.  
• The open interest on this chain as of this morning’s open was 1,100 contracts in circulation.

These orders come after continued pressures for more Chinese stock delistings, as well as after $DIDI officially announced its delisting, with reports on insider trading surrounding that event.

71.8% of the premium traded at these premium levels are in bullish bets, with 67.1% as ask-side orders, and 22% are in call premiums.

To view more information about DIDI's flow breakdown, click here to visit unusualwhales.com.

Unusual Options Activity in Lam Research Corporation (LRCX)

In the market capitalization-weighted index NASDAQ Global Select Market Composite (NasdaqGS), we saw unusual or noteworthy options trading volume and activity today in Lam Research Corporation (LRCX), which opened today at $728.00.

• There were 1,814 contracts traded upon the $680 strike put dated for June 17th, 2022, bought to open at the ask.
• There were an additional 1,814 contracts traded upon the $670 strike put dated for May 20th, 2022, sold to open at the bid.
• Both of these chains had an open interest of approximately 3 to 7 contracts in circulation as of this morning’s open, so therefore both of these trades are interpreted as being bought or sold to open.

If these orders were traded together as a part of strategy, they would represent a diagonal spread, wherein the strikes were different across two different expiration dates, not dissimilar to a calendar spreads whose strikes are the same across different expirations.

These orders come after Jon Quast of The Motley Fool listed Lam Research Corporation as one of the “3 Unstoppable Stocks That Could Create Lasting Generational Wealth”.

Some strategies such as calendar and diagonal spreads take advantage of volatility.

“IV crush” is a term used to explain the occurrence of rapidly decreasing IV after a catalyst, such as but not limited to earnings reports, company announcements, and FOMC meetings.  Contracts that are shorter dated and sold against a longer position are typically taking advantage of such “IV crush”.

To view more information about LRCX's flow breakdown, click here to visit unusualwhales.com.

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