A complex call spread led yesterday's option activity in financial insurer MBIA.
optionMONSTER systems show that a trader bought 9,500 June 13 calls for $0.51 and sold the same number of August 17 calls for $0.43. The volume was more than the previous open interest at each strike, indicating new activity.
This is a bullish diagonal spread, using the sale of the longer-term, higher-strike calls to offset some of the cost of the June 13 long calls . (See our Education section)
MBI fell 4.37 percent yesterday to finish at $9.85, in the middle of its range for the last year. The stock hit its 52-week low below $7 in mid-November and its high above $13 at the start of March.
The company has tentatively scheduled its first-quarter earnings report for May 8. optionMONSTER systems show that 42,500 MBI options changed hands yesterday, nearly triple its daily average for the last month.
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