Paper sold 5,000 XLP April 53 puts at .32 with the ETF near today?s lows
The Consumer Staples Select Sector ETF, trading 52.93 with an IV30 of 12.07 and an HV10 of 12.07, saw a put seller today.? The stock saw a customer sell 5,000 of the April 53 puts at .32 with the ETF near today?s lows.? Additionally, there was some put buying in the April 22 weekly and the April 29 weeklys earlier in the day.? Given the open interest the April 53 puts could have been a sale of put protection OR could be a trader looking to enter the stock below 53.? The April 22s that expire next week are opening, and were all buys totaling over 8100 that were purchased through auto execution.
While it?s unlikely that these were the same customers, it does point toward moving perceptions of risk.? There appears to be some protection buying ahead of the heavy earnings cycle that is next week, meanwhile traders are taking hedges off this week.
This this trading should be considered bullish XLP for the week and slightly bearish XLP next week and bullish volatility.