Paper bout 1800 VA April 30 calls, close to 500 VA April 35 calls & purchased May/June 30/35 calls as well.?
Virgin America Inc., trading 34.75 (up 4.08) with an IV30 of 44.90 and an HV10 of 28%, saw an unusual call sweeper today.? The stock, with an ADV of 570 and an OI of 8800 contracts, saw a trader buy the April 30 calls nearly 1800 times, close to 500 of the April 35 calls, along with calls purchased on the 30 and 35 strikes in May and June as well.? This was done in the first hour of trading just before the stock was briefly halted and the underlying popped on rumors of a potential merger between it a yet unnamed airline.
These call buyers were making a bet that the underlying was going to move much higher, paying between .15 and .25 on the April 35 calls which where almost 20% out of the money at the time.? The 30 calls were also a serious play on the underlying moving higher.? Since the halt and reopen, activity has continued on the April 30 and 35 strikes with volume on the day in VA likely to exceed its total open interest.