Nearing the halfway mark in today's session, here are the individual equity names with the most call and put buying on optionMONSTER's ActionTracker data system. Microsoft (MSFT): Some 34,000 July 27 calls ...

Total option volume has reached 5.5 million contracts so far today, with some different names showing heavy activity in the major indexes and ETFs on optionMONSTER's data systems. The SPDR S&P 500 Fund ...

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reaped a gain of nearly $2.3 billion last year when he exercised 60 million stock options just before the online social networking leader's initial public offering. The windfall ...

For the second time in as many sessions, traders are bullish on MetLife. optionMONSTER's Heat Seeker monitoring program detected the purchase of 3,000 June 37 calls for $0.86 and the sale of 2,500 June ...

Acadia Pharmaceuticals has been explosive, and one investor is using options to smooth the ride. Our Heat Seeker monitoring program detected the purchase of 30,000 January 2015 12 calls for $4.04 and the ...

Big players think there is still money to be made in Best Buy. optionMONSTER's Heat Seeker monitoring system detected the purchase of 12,000 May 26 calls for $1.13 and the sale of 9,700 May 25 calls for ...

Vodafone has been a money machine for options traders, and they're coming back for more today. Our Heat Seeker monitoring program detected the purchase of about 8,500 January 32 calls for $0.80 and the ...

Halftime gives you the trade on the stocks you asked about, including unusual activity in Apple options.

Ulta Salon drew bearish option activity leading up to its earnings report last night.  optionMONSTER systems show that trader bought 4,000 April 80 puts for $1.50 and sold the same number of April 95 calls ...

Kinder Morgan is drawing some bearish activity ahead of its earnings report next month.More than 4,000 April 35 puts were purchased yesterday, led by prints of 1,970 for $0.23 and 1,741 for $0.27 less ...

Videocast: Activity slows in VIX pits

Did B&N Options Activity Anticipate Retail Buyout?

Options Activity Questioned Again

Carl Icahn is using options as his primary weapon of choice in the titanic battle over Herbalife. According to new filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the billionaire investor bought calls ...

MGIC Investment reports fourth-quarter earnings at the end of this month, and traders are positioning for a potential drop.More than 14,000 March 2 puts traded in a strong buying pattern yesterday, led ...

Shares of Zynga have been climbing in the last couple of weeks, but today's option activity in the name isn't overly bullish.optionMONSTER systems show that a trader bought 4,911 March 3 calls for $0.63 ...

CNBC contributor Mike Khouw, CRT Capital Group LLC, shares his take on Chesapeake now.

A large put trade tops today's option activity in Paychex, but it's not bearish. The option volume in PAYX already tops 12,000 contracts this morning, which is more than 10 times its daily average in the ...

BMC Software might pull back a small amount, but one investor is confident in the longer term.optionMONSTER's tracking programs detected unusual put volume in the company, which reports earnings after ...

Shares of biopharmaceutical company Amarin surged yesterday, but its option activity was led by a large put trade. A trader bought 4,538 February 8 puts for $0.34 and sold the same number of January 8.50 ...

PulteGroup hit a five-year high this morning, but one trader remains cautious on the homebuilder's stock.optionMONSTER's Depth Charge system shows that a trader bought 9,800 April 18 puts for the ask price ...

AOL has pulled back after a huge rally, and now investors are logging back on.optionMONSTER's tracking programs detected heavy put selling in the Internet stock on Friday, along with some moderate call ...

People listen when David Tepper talks, and last week was no exception when he was interviewed on CNBC.The founder of Appaloosa Management was widely quoted for his bullish remarks about the stock market's ...

Total option volume is very strong at nearly 8 million already today, with highly bullish sentiment dominating the indexes and ETFs, optionMONSTER's data systems show. The SPDR S&P 500 Fund (SPY) has 2 ...

Videocast: VIX activity near 17 level

Whether it involves calls or puts, the option activity has been a great tell in Seagate Technology.The maker of computer hard drives has frequently appeared on our Heat Seeker and Depth Charge trade scanners ...

Bank Of America Options Activity Strong

Celsion is seeing put activity for the second day in a row. A trader sold 6,950 January 3 puts for the bid price of $0.50 in volume below open interest of almost 10,000. He or she also bought 6,950 April ...

Calls are surging in Yahoo as shares come off a four-year high reached yesterday.YHOO is down 1.35 percent to $18.67 this morning. The Internet stock traded as high as $19.16 in yesterday's session and ...

Apple has traded in the green for much of today's session, and the heavy option volume is once again in the soon-to-expire options. AAPL is up just under 1 percent to $547.85. It opened below $540 but ...

Put volume surged in Marathon Oil and Home Depot yesterday, but sentiment wasn't as bearish as it may appear.MRO saw the purchase of 41,500 November 30 puts for $0.26 and the sale of a matching number ...

Bearish put volume swelled in iShares MSCI Emerging Markets (NYSEArca: EEM) on Thursday with more than 250,000 contracts changing hands. In what is likely related trading, iShares FTSE China 25 (NYSEArca: ...

Traders are turning bullish on Micron as the memory-chip maker tries to rebound from multi-year lows.More than 10,000 December 7 calls changed hands in a strong buying pattern yesterday, most of them going ...

Apple is normally the leading stock for weekly options, but Facebook is stealing the show today.optionMONSTER's tracking programs show bullish trading in the social networking stock, which gapped higher ...

New Gold saw bullish option trading for a second straight session on Friday.Traders sold more than 9,500 October 11 calls in three large blocks for $0.65, $0.70, and $0.90, according to optionMONSTER's ...

Nearing the halfway mark in today's session, here are the individual equity names with the most call and put buying on optionMONSTER's ActionTracker data system.Bank of America (BAC): Investors bought ...

Traders took profits early today in Google, and it was the right move.This is a great stock, and it had been running like a champ ahead of today's earnings release. I was riding that rally with call spreads, ...

Option volume in Apple has slowed a bit as it holds the gains of the last two days. AAPL is down fractionally today at $647.51. It had been in positive territory at the open, adding to the gains of the ...

Option volume is surging in Apple again today as its shares fall under heavy pressure. AAPL options again tops 530,000 contracts, the third largest volume on the market so far today. The shortest-term ...

One investor apparently thinks that paranoia is running high in Japanese stocks and wants to profit from the situation.optionMONSTER's tracking systems detected the sale of 35,000 December 8 puts in the ...

You've just received a promotion and are now eligible for equity-based compensation. Congratulations! In most cases, you stand to gain some extra money. But these perks have tax consequences.The three ...

A large call spread tops today's option action in Flotek Industries, but it doesn't look overly bullish.FTK is up 3.29 percent to $12.38 in midday trading as it recovers much of the losses from yesterday. ...

From the very short to the very long, option traders appear to have an insatiable appetite for new ways to play the market. And now the market is giving us, well, more options. Weekly options have been ...

The bullish tone of these trades is interesting given the predominately negative tone of news out of the region.

Here's your third Quarter QE3 play: Buy banks and emerging markets while selling small caps and US dollar.

The CBOE Volatility Index closed at its session high just barely in positive territory yesterday as the VIX options had a record day. The VIX finished at 16.41, up 0.13 points, or 0.8 percent. This came ...

As weekly options continue to see huge popularity, the International Securities Exchange has introduced $0.50 strike prices to those contracts. The Securities and Exchange Commission approved the change, ...

The CBOE Volatility Index ended Friday just off the lows of the week as the S&P 500 finished at its highest close in four years. The VIX fell 1.22 points, or 7.8 percent, to 14.38. This came as the SPX ...