OpenTable trade shows reservations

Shares of OpenTable have been climbing for the last three weeks but are still down 60 percent this year, and today's option activity is led by puts.

The online restaurant-reservation network is down 1.57 percent to trade at $42.07. OPEN was up at $118 back in April but hit a 52-week low of $31.54 at the end of November.

A trader bought 2,000 February 40 puts for $4.25 and, at the same time, sold 4,000 February 32.50 puts for $1.55. The open interest at the 40 strike was 2,039, so that could have been an opening or closing transaction.

If those puts were bought to close, this is a roll down of a short-put position . But the trader is also doubling the size of the position, so it seems more likely that the puts were bought to open a new ratio spread .

This is one of the favorite types of trades of funds. It takes a maximum profit if shares trade down to $32.50, so it has a bearish bias. But it sells more options than it buys, so it also takes advantage of time decay and volatility premiums . (See our Education section)

More From optionMONSTER

• Inhibitex investor looks for more gains
  
• Volatility index below 21 as SPX rises
  
• Index, ETF option volumes at midday