J.C. Penney faces downside position
J.C. Penney continues to pull back today, and one large trade is positioning for further downside in the stock.
optionMONSTER systems show that a trader has sold more than 8,000 June 17 puts for $0.13 against previous open interest of more than 21,000 contracts. A the same time, he or she bought the same numbers of the July 17 puts for $0.73 in volume that was twice the open interest in that strike, clearly indicating that this is a new position.
The trader is rolling the June puts, which expire a week from today, to allow more time for the trade to work. This could be an outright bearish play, but it is quite likely a protective hedge on a long-stock position. (See our Education section)
JCP is down 2.26 percent to $17.74 in early afternoon trading. Shares of the department-store operator have support around this level but have been trending lower after failing to break upside resistance at $20 last month. The stock was below $14 at the start of April.
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