Today’s tickers: CROX, YUM & LOW
CROX - Crocs, Inc. – The tail may be wagging the dog at casual footwear maker, Crocs, Inc., today with heavy trading traffic in August expiry calls preceding a sharp upside move in the price of the underlying early in the trading session. The stock fell 1.9% at the open and continued to trade in negative territory until a burst of call activity at approximately 9:40 a.m. saw the stock bounce off its lows and gain as much as 6.3% to $15.03. Upwards of 3,500 option contracts have changed hands on CROX thus far in the session, with more than nine calls trading for each put option in play. In- and out-of-the-money calls expiring in August are seeing the most action, with some 1,900 in-the-money contracts purchased for an average premium of $1.00 each at the $14 strike. Another 2,000 contracts traded to the middle of the market at the Aug. $15 strike at an average premium of $0.58 apiece, while 825 calls were picked up at the $16 strike for a premium of $0.30 per contract. The trader or traders responsible for the activity may be positioning for shares to rise following the company’s second-quarter earnings report next Wednesday after the final bell.
YUM - YUM! Brands, Inc. – The operator of fast food restaurant chains KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, reports second-quarter earnings after the final bell this afternoon. Call spreads initiated on YUM this morning suggests one trader is prepared to profit should shares in the name post single-digit gains ahead of July expiration later in the week. China growth concerns, the crisis in Europe and flagging U.S. consumer confidence have weighed on YUM shares in recent months, with the stock currently down 13% off the April 20th all-time high of $74.44. The stock today, however, is in positive territory with shares in the name up 1.1% at $65.13 just before midday in New York.…
