Bulls like the look of Estee Lauder
Estee Lauder is attracting bullish option activity before its earnings report next month.
As optionMONSTER co-founder Pete Najarian said on CNBC's " Fast Money " program on Friday, our Heat Seeker tracking system identified the purchase of about 2,400 August 80 calls for $0.45 to $0.50 at the end of last week. The volume was more than double the previous open interest of 1,127 contracts, indicating that this is fresh buying.
These long calls lock in the price where the stock can be purchased through mid-August no matter how far it might climb. They could be sold earlier at a profit if premiums rise with a rally before then, providing potentially significant leverage, but the contracts will expire worthless if shares remain below $80. (See our Education section)
EL slipped 0.32 percent to $75.67 on Friday but is still not far from its all-time high of $77.34 reached on June 6. The stock has been trading in a tight range since then, mostly between $74 and $76.
The cosmetics company is scheduled to release quarterly results on the morning of Aug. 15. The August options expire at the end of that day.
Friday's call buying made up more than 92 percent of the total option volume in EL, which in turn was more than triple its daily average for the last month. Overall calls outnumbered puts by 16.5 to 1, reflecting the session's bullish sentiment.
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