A large downside trade tops today's option action in the Market Vectors Gold Miners Fund, which is on pace for its lowest close in a month.
The GDX trades at $44.12, down 2.3 percent on the day after trading above $48 last week. In the longer term, the exchange-traded fund had been stair-stepping down from the 52-week highs above $66 in September to a 52-week low of $39.08 in mid-May.
optionMONSTER's systems show that more than 12,000 each of the August 42.50 puts and 47 calls have traded. The calls were sold for the bid price of $1.40, while the puts were bought for the ask for $1.57. The open interest was under 1,000 in each strike.
This is clearly a bearish position, with the trader spending $0.17 to get downside exposure, especially below that $42.50 level. It is quite possible that this is a collar on a long position in the fund or in the underlying shares. (See our Education section)
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