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Monday’s Vital Data: Micron Technology, Inc. (MU), Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD)

U.S. stock futures are trading broadly higher this morning. Wall Street is riding a massive sentiment boost from Friday’s stronger-than-expected May jobs numbers. For the month, the U.S. added 223,000 new jobs while the unemployment rate fell to an 18-year low of 3.8%.

The news overshadowed trade war fears. Over the weekend, trade talks between the U.S. and China broke down, indicating that a trade war between the world’s two largest economies could be imminent.

Heading into the open, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up 0.56%. S&P 500 futures have added 0.36% and Nasdaq-100 futures have risen 0.33%.

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In options activity, volume was well above average on Friday, with calls in control. About 20.5 million calls and 15.8 million puts changed hands on the session. On the CBOE, the single-session equity put/call volume ratio fell to 0.56. The 10-day moving average held at 0.61.

Options traders continue to load up on Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) calls, despite increased scrutiny from Chinese regulatory agents. Meanwhile, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) saw a spike in call options activity ahead of this week’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Finally, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) was a bullish favorite after Stifel hiked its price target on AMD stock.

Let’s take a closer look:

Monday’s Vital Options Data: Micron Technology, Inc. (MU), Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD)
Monday’s Vital Options Data: Micron Technology, Inc. (MU), Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD)

Micron Technology, Inc. (MU)

Micron announced on Friday that its offices in China were visited by Chinese regulatory authority representatives. “Micron confirms that China’s State Administration for Market Regulation authorities visited Micron’s China sales offices on May 31 seeking certain information,” the company released in a statement.

China has ramped up its investigation into NAND and DRAM pricing as Micron, Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. have enjoyed record profits. Micron got about half of its sales from China last year.

MU stock has been in a freefall since topping out just shy of $65 last week, but that hasn’t stopped MU options traders from loading up on calls. Volume on Friday soared to 548,000 contracts, with calls making up 62% of the day’s take.

That said, MU options are seeing a bit of a rise in put activity for the weekly June 22 series — i.e., those options most affected by Micron’s next quarterly earnings report. At last check, the June 22 put/call open interest ratio had risen to 0.42 from a low of 0.27 two weeks ago.

Apple Inc. (AAPL)

The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is upon us, and AAPL speculators are out in force. The company is expected to provide updates (or peaks at updates) for iOS, MacOS, it’s augmented reality kit (ARKit) and it’s hardware lineup. The WWDC can be a volatile period for AAPL stock, leading to increased speculation on the options front.

Heading into today’s kickoff, options traders sent more than 478,000 contracts across the tape on AAPL stock. Call options made up 70% of that activity. The weekly June 8 series, however, has seen relatively tame speculation amid the conference.

Currently, the June 8 series put/call OI ratio comes in at 0.62. Calls are clearly more popular than puts, but there is still a heavy contingent of put OI at the $187.50 strike, totaling more than 11,000 contracts.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD)

AMD received a double boost at the end of last week. First, Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) introduced a new line of servers that use AMD’s Epyc 7000 series processors. Following on that announcement, Stifel lifted its price target on AMD stock to $17 from $14. According to Stifel, “We believe other server OEMs have realized the benefits of EPYC and will be making similar announcements soon.”

The news prompted a rush on AMD options. Volume rose to double the stock’s daily average, coming in at 328,000 contracts. Calls made up 64% of the day’s take, putting a bullish spin on the activity.

AMD has been a favorite of short-term speculators of late, with call traders rushing to take profits at the end of May. This time around, there is a bit more caution, however. Currently, the June put/call OI ratio comes in at 0.92, with puts on the verge of matching calls for the series. This bearish sentiment could be healthy for the shares as they continue to rise amid unwinding pessimism.

As of this writing, Joseph Hargett held no positions on any of the aforementioned securities.

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The post Monday’s Vital Data: Micron Technology, Inc. (MU), Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) appeared first on InvestorPlace.

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