Bank of America Options Volume Pops
Options volume is soaring on Bank of America (Ticker: BAC) today, with overall volume approaching 650,000 contracts as of midday in New York trading versus the stock?s average daily volume of around 430,000 contracts. Shares in the name are up nearly 3.0% on the session at $17.25, the highest level since May of 2010, after the company reported better than expected fourth-quarter earnings and revenue.
Options traders are favoring BAC calls over puts, with the call/put ratio hovering near 2.6 as of the time of this writing. The most traded contracts on Bank of America during the first half of the trading session were the 17 Jan ?14 calls. Earnings reports from some of the big banks this week and strong retail sales data released on Tuesday helped the S&P 500 Index climb to a fresh record on an intraday basis, with the Index touching 1850.77 earlier in the session. Shares in JPMorgan (Ticker: JPM) continue to march higher today, adding to gains on the back of its fourth-quarter earnings release on Tuesday, while Wells Fargo (Ticker: WFC), which saw its shares in negative territory following Q4 earnings, rebounded sharply today to reach a new 52-week high.
Volume in Bank of America shares, currently near 185 million shares, is greater as of midday than any full day?s volume in the stock during the past six months.
Chart ? Bank of America (Click To Enlarge)
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