Harley-Davidson Calls Pop as Bulls Position to Ride Rally Higher

Today’s tickers: HOG, V, CRI & ANR HOG  - Harley-Davidson, Inc. –  Shares in Harley-Davidson roared to life during the month of June, rising some 20.0% since June 13. Bullish players expecting the price of the underlying to continue to accelerate to the upside scooped up call options this morning. HOG’s shares are currently up 1.75% on the day to stand at $41.69 as of 11:35 am ET. Call options in the front month are the most heavily trafficked, with the July $43 strike call attracting the greatest volume. Investors exchanged more than 4,100 calls at the July $43 strike against previously existing open interest of just 33 contracts. It looks like traders purchased most of the calls at that strike for an average premium of $0.36 a-pop. Call buyers profit if shares in the motorcycle manufacturer climb another 4.0% over the current price of $41.69 to surpass the average breakeven point at $43.36 by July expiration. Harley-Davidson’s shares traded within pennies of the breakeven price back in April when the stock rallied to a 2-year high of $43.15. The July contract calls expire four days before HOG reports second-quarter earnings. In-the-money calls set to expire in August received some attention, as well. It looks like some 2,100 calls may have been purchased for an average premium of $2.74 each at the August $40 strike. The calls changing hands at this strike could be closing positions as open interest at this strike is sufficient to cover volume generated thus far in the session. The rise in demand for HOG calls helped lift options implied volatility on the stock 7.4% to 32.23% by 11:50 am in New York. V  - Visa, Inc. –  The run-up in Visa’s shares sparked by the Fed’s decision to impose a $0.22 cap on swipe fees rather…