Unusual Option Talks? Apple aims no direction? Try COIN!
On December 26th, the market continued to strengthen, taking another step towards new highs, with Nasdaq up by 0.54%. The options trading for the strong-performing $Intel(INTC)$ was unusually active.
However, the performance of the heaviest-weighted $Apple(AAPL)$ was not strong, instead experiencing a retreat of -0.28%.
Nonetheless, this also attracted some unusual options traders. Large positions in the 190 PUT and 200 CALL options expiring on February 2nd were closed out. Could it be that they believe Apple will remain in the 190-200 range for another month?
If it were me, I might also close out such positions. On one hand, the market is poised to touch new highs, while on the other hand, Apple faces significant overall downward pressure. It might be better to wait for a clearer trend before making a decision.
Compared to the uncertainty surrounding Apple, the recent strength of $Coinbase Global, Inc.(COIN)$ is evident, with many positions still open below 165. Especially noteworthy are the large positions in the 130 PUT options expiring on February 16th, likely placed by a big player selling PUT options. In fact, it wouldn't matter much if COINbase were to drop to 130.
In the same industry, $Marathon Digital Holdings Inc(MARA)$ also has a large number of open positions in the January 5th calls with a strike price of $28, indicating there may still be some market movement.
Additionally, there is $Plug Power(PLUG)$ , with a large position in Leap Calls expiring in 2026, indicating a readiness to hold for an entire cycle.
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