High Roller Option Trades of the Week – April 1st

A recap of the most expensive, “high roller option trades” of the past week, from March 28th through April 1st.

Unusual options activity comes in all shapes and sizes. They don’t have to be massive. Things like a sudden swell of options volume in a usually-quiet name, or a wide discrepancy between volume and option interest can be enough to make an options trade unusual without it costing a fortune. 

But sometimes, it’s just the gargantuan size of an order that catches our attention. After all, if someone out there is willing to risk millions of dollars on a market event, I want to know about it. 

That’s what we’re digging into today. We’ll be examining the largest call and put trades of the past week, the largest short-dated option trades, and the largest OTM option trades. We’ll investigate how much they cost the trader, and where they stand today, in what we’re calling High Roller Option Trades of the Week.

Remember, regardless of the size of the trade, a consistent trading plan is a necessity to be able to properly use the information at hand. Now, let’s dive into last week’s high roller option trades!

Most Expensive Call Option Trade of the Week

Alphabet ($GOOGL) Calls

On Monday, March 28th, one trader started off their day with a bang. He or she bought 500 of the June 17th expiring $2,400 strike calls. These were picked up while Alphabet was trading at 2,821.41, meaning they were bought in the money. The trader spent $462.00 ($46,200) per contract, for a total cost of $23.1 million dollars! 

Price equivalent: That’s the same price that Lebron James’ paid for this 8-bedroom, 11-bathroom L.A. mansion.

Where are they now: These calls are now trading at a mid-price of $488.30, up 5.7% from the original trade price. That makes the total cost $24,415,000 — an increase of 1,315,000! Not bad for a week’s pay!

Most Expensive Put Option Trade of the Week

Five9 ($FIVN) Puts

On Friday, April 1st, 3,195 of the $185 strike puts expiring July 15th were bought in one huge order. At the time, $FIVN was trading at $116.12, meaning these options were bought in the money. These contracts were bought for $68.9 ($6,890) a piece, at a total price of $22.014 million dollars!

Price equivalent: For the cost of these options, you could buy the luxurious Learjet 85 — and still have $1 million to spare!

Where are they now: These put options are currently trading at a mid price of $67.90, down about 1.4%. This leaves the total value of this trade at $21,694,050 — down $319,950 with 102 days to expiration.

Most Expensive OTM Option Trade of the Week

Lowe’s ($LOW) Calls

On Wednesday, March 30th, 5,000 of the $230 strike calls expiring January 20th, 2023 were bought in a single order. 

These calls were bought out of the money, with Lowe’s trading at $214.45. The trader spent $16.15 ($1,615) per contract, with a total price tag at $8.075 million dollars!

This followed $5 million dollars of option-paper in the same contract the day before (broken up into three orders). Interestingly, all four orders were made at the same time of day — between 10:15 and 10:40AM! When we see option buys that are extremely similar in nature like this (and far above the open interest), we can often conclude that it’s the same buyer coming back for more.

Price equivalent: Rather than buying these options, this trader could have purchased Powell Cay, a 294-acre private island in the Northern Bahamas!

Where are they now: These call options are currently trading at a mid price of $11.88, down about 26.5%! That means the total value of this order stands at $5,940,000 — down $2,135,000 dollars! That said, this trader has 291 days to expiration! So there’s plenty of time for his or her luck to turn around.

Most Expensive Short-Dated Option Trade of the Week

(When we say “short-dated”, we’re referring to an option with less than a week to expiry.)

Beyond ($BYND) Puts

On Thursday, March 31st, 3,400 of the April 1st expiring $60 strike puts were bought in a single order! That’s a big trade, but what’s even more notable is that it was a 3,400 contract order against 16 open interest. 

These contracts were bought in the money, with the stock trading at $48.65, for $11.29 ($1,129) a piece. That means this order cost the trader a grand total of $3.839 million dollars!

Price equivalent: For $3.8 million dollars, you could have bought a 2022 Bugatti Chiron! But really, who needs a top speed of 276 miles per hour?

Where are they now: These put options expired at $10.70 per contract — though early Friday morning they were trading as high as $13.10! That means this trader had an opportunity to claim up to $615,000 in profit if they were disciplined! Otherwise, if this trader held these contracts to expiration, they lost roughly $200,600 dollars!

The Bottom Line

As you can see, it takes more than simply copying the biggest trade of the week to come out on top. That’s why Market Rebellion employs the rigorous F.R.A.M.E. method to seek out the most unusual option trades, and combines technical analysis to create effective, consistent trade ideas. If you’re interested in learning what makes Market Rebellion’s method of trading unusual options activity so powerful, check out Unusual Options Activity Essential!