Insiders know something that the average investor DOESNT!!!!!!! Particularly active were the May 50 calls, which provide the right to buy the stock at $50 by the time the contract expires later this month. More than 18,000 traded on the session. The contract had not traded at all since Monday, when just 233 changed hands at 10 cents a piece. According to a report on TheStreet.com, Jim Cramer said on cable network CNBC that he felt recent trading in Monster options suggested that a takeover announcement could be made within the next month. He cited Google (GOOG) and newspaper publisher Gannett (GCI), which jointly owns Monster rival CareerBuilder.com with fellow publishers Tribune (TRB) and McClatchy (MNI) as possible suitors. He also suggested that Monster could fetch $60 in a buyout. The stock was trading at about $44 before this afternoonâs surge.
It's nice to have unusual option activity noted before the buyout announcement. I am getting tired of reading about a buyout and then all the geniuses look at price action leading up to the announcement and deduce that there was insider trading. Monster was 2nd on today's list. Topping the list was Nokia, with call volume of 312,341 vs an average of only 20,972 (14.89:1) http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/streetools/filters/volume_exp.aspx
Looks like the divi arb funds were trading the 100 deltas. NOK goes ex-dividend tomorrow, is my guess.
There were TONS of calls bought at the asking price right before the close today. If there's no significant price movement tommorow & the open interest increases (confirming the calls were a real buy), I might go in for some NOK calls.