Today’s tickers: XLF, JACK & SNDK
XLF - Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF – Financials joined the broad market breather today, extending declines spurred by Tuesday’s FOMC minutes, and exacerbated first by a weak bond auction in Spain, and next by the lower-than-expected ISM non-manufacturing number. The XLF is off its lows of the session, but remains down 1.7% at $15.56 as of 1:30 p.m. in New York. The dip in financials today appears to have sparked a rush for downside protection, perhaps as some strategists seek to protect the double-digit rally in the sector since the start of the New Year. The XLF is up 17.0% year-to-date even with today’s decline, and it seems some traders are snapping up put options on the ETF to brace for potential continued bearish movement in the price of the underlying. Options players exchanged more than 55,000 puts at the May $15 strike against open interest of 18,287 contracts. It looks like nearly all of the puts were purchased for an average premium of $0.29 apiece, with the single largest trade printing 29,894 contracts in the first hour of the session. The put options yield profits – or downside protection – in the event that XLF shares drop 5.5% to breach the average breakeven price of $14.71 at expiration next month.
JACK - Jack in the Box Inc. – A large block of call options in play on Jack in the Box appears to be one part of a bearish stock and options combination strategy that pays off if shares in the operator of Jack in the Box and Qdoba Mexican Grill restaurants pull back. JACK’s shares are down 2.6% at $23.19 as of 12:05 p.m. in New York. It looks like one trader purchased 6,000 calls at the Sep. $25 strike…
