Unusual Options Activity

1. Altera (ALTR)- The Apr $47/$55 bull call spread was put on 10,000 times for a $1.000 debit and the May $47/$55 bull call spread was put on 5,000 times for a $2.00 debit. These follow yesterday’s May $44/$50 bull call spread buyer of 5,000 for a $1.80 debit. Shares have fully recovered from the gap down yesterday (rumors that Intel was no longer interested in acquiring the company) and actually made a new high relative to the March 27th peak when the Intel rumors came out. Reports were that Intel was willing to pay in the low $50’s, so the recent call spread trades could be positioning for a re-offer by Intel or another large tech company.
2. Delta Air Lines (DAL)- 10,000 Sep $50 calls were bought for $1.78-$1.82, against open interest of 4,302 contracts. Earnings are due out on April 15th. The stock has moved higher after earnings on 7 straight reports and trades at just 9.15x 2015 earnings estimates.
3. Exelixis (EXEL)- 8,000+ June $3.50 calls were bought for $0.65-$0.70. Earnings are due out on April 30th and they have Phase 3 data due out in June. Shares can rally to $4.00-$4.50, if they are able to breakout above near-term resistance at $3.20.
4. Hudson City Bancorp (HCBK)- Roughly 4,800 May $10 puts were bought for $0.65-$0.70. On average, just 128 puts trade per day. On April 6th, the planned merger of Hudson City Bancorp and M&T Bank was delayed once again. Earnings are due out in the last week of April.
5. McDonald’s (MCD)- A rollout from 5,000 Apr 17 $95 calls ($2.07 credit) into 5,000 June $95 calls ($3.92 debit). Roughly 25,000 June $97.50 calls were bought on March 11th and 12th. Back in January, McDonald’s changed their CEO and hired Steve Easterbrook to replace Don Thompson. He is already making big changes that include: shrinking the menu, promises of hormone, antibiotic-free chicken (and brought back chicken selects), and will add sirloin burgers to the menu for a limited time starting in May.

ALTR DAL EXEL HCBK MCD unusual options activity