| Energy bulls see quick rebounds | |
| | |
|
Energy has struggled, but now the bulls are back.
optioMONSTER's Heat Seeker monitoring program detected heavy call volume across the sector yesterday, most of which focused on the short-term weekly contracts expiring at the end of tomorrow's session.
The SPDR Oil & Gas Exploration fund led the charge with more than 21,000 Weekly 33.50 calls purchased for $0.59 to $0.74. ConocoPhillips and Whiting Petroleum were also active in smaller size. Some 12,700 COP 43.50s were bought for $0.54 and $0.55, while WLL's Weekly 15 calls traded 14,000 times for $0.50 to $0.65. Volume dwarfed open interest across the board, which means that new money was put to work.
Long calls lock in the price where investors can buy a stock, so they can profit from a rally with limited capital at risk. Their cheap price can also generate significant leverage on a percentage basis if shares move in the right direction. That is what happened in the COP and WLL options, where traders quickly chalked up gains of 10 to 20 percent. (See our Education section)
XOP rose 2.92 percent to $33.79 yesterday and is trying to hold six-year lows earlier in the week. COP climbed 2.89 percent to $43.41 and has fared better in the long run, holding levels from September 2010. WLL shed earlier gains and closed down 0.14 percent to $14.70.
All three have lost more than 30 percent in the last three months following a major slide in energy prices. The drop has resulted from a glut in supply and weak economic growth in China.
Overall option activity was 7 times normal amounts in WLL and twice average amounts in COP, according to Heat Seeker. Calls dominated puts in all three names.
More From optionMONSTER
|
|
|
Whiting Petroleum Corporation
|
|
|
CODE : WLL |
ISIN : US9663871021 |
|
| |
ProfileMarket IndicatorsVALUE : Projects & res.Press releasesAnnual reportRISK : Asset profileContact Cpy |
Whiting Petroleum is a oil producing company based in United states of america. Whiting Petroleum is listed in Germany and in United States of America. Its market capitalisation is US$ 6.2 billions as of today (€ 6.1 billions). Its stock quote reached its highest recent level on August 22, 2008 at US$ 99.26, and its lowest recent point on April 03, 2020 at US$ 0.25. Whiting Petroleum has 90 927 193 shares outstanding. |