Tuesday’s Vital Data: Facebook Inc (FB), Synchrony Financial (SYF) and Twitter Inc (TWTR)

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U.S. stock futures are are once again headed lower Tuesday, as selling pressure from Monday’s 1% across-the-board losses is spilling over into pre-market trading. At last check, futures on the Nasdaq Composite, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 are off by an average of about 0.15%.

The looming Fed rate hike remains the top concern on Wall Street, as hopes for a more robust economic recovery are being overshadowed by concerns for rising credit costs.  

Option volume continued apace on Monday, with General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) arbitrage activity still dominating the options pits. Look for GE to remain front and center with options traders through the Synchrony Financial (NYSE:SYF) deal deadline on Nov. 12. Overall, calls popularity continued to slip on Monday, as the CBOE single-session equity put/call volume ratio advanced once again to perch at 0.76. The 10-day moving average held at 0.65 after rebounding from a four-month low on Friday.

Zeroing in on equity options, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) options traders remained largely bullish despite the company’s continued privacy battle with Belgian data protection regulators. Meanwhile, Synchrony Financial made a rare appearance on the top ten most active options listing after news broke that SYF stock would be added to the S&P 500, replacing another former GE spinoff, Genworth Financial (NYSE:GNW). Finally, Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) options traders were call heavy on Monday despite bearish commentary from RBC Capital Markets.

Tuesday’s Vital Data: Facebook Inc (FB), Synchrony Financial (SYF) and Twitter Inc (TWTR)

Facebook Inc (FB)

Shares of social media darling Facebook shed more than 0.5% on Monday as FB stock struggled with broad-market selling pressure and a lingering battle over user privacy with Belgium. According to reports, Facebook is appealing an EU court decision ordering the company to suspend its user tracking activities. Belgium, meanwhile, is pursuing a $269,000-per-day fine for as long as Facebook continues its current user tracking policy.

Following the news, call volume was brisk on FB on Monday. More than 205,000 contracts traded on FB, with 66% of those coming in as call contracts. Looking at weekly activity, options traders have loaded up on Nov 13 series $105 strike calls and puts, with 6,408 contracts and 5,306 contracts open at each, respectively.  

Peak call OI, meanwhile totals a hefty 11,236 contracts at the overhead $110 strike, with another 10,316 contracts open at the $109 strike. Look for this region to act as potential resistance if FB stock finally finds its feet this week.

Synchrony Financial (SYF)

Currently in the midst of a spinoff/stock exchange with parent company GE, SYF stock has endured a bit of a roller-coaster ride during the past week. The stock jumped on Friday after Synchrony posted stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings results, but fell on Monday after news broke of the company’s addition to the S&P 500. The decline smells a lot like a sell-on-the-news move by SYF speculators.

Option activity was brisk enough on Monday to push SYF onto the top ten most actives listing for the day. More than 180,500 contracts traded on SYF stock, with the call/put split arriving right down the middle. While some of yesterday’s activity was likely related to the S&P announcement, most of SYF’s option volume will likely be directly related to the GE stock swap as the Nov. 12 deadline for GE stockholders draws nearer.

Twitter Inc (TWTR)

It’s been one step up and two steps back for TWTR stock so far in 2015. On Monday, Twitter once again came under fire from bearish analyst commentary, with RBC Capital Markets firing the shots this time around. According to RBC, it could take quite some time for Twitter to finally turn itself around and that investors might want to avoid TWTR stock for the time being.  

The negativity cost TWTR more than 4% on Monday, with the share dropping back below all of their major short-term daily moving averages as a result. That said, TWTR calls were popular yesterday, accounting for 65% of the 121,773 contracts in total volume. For the week, options traders are centered on the Nov 13 series $26.50 put, where 6,382 contracts are currently open, and the $29 call, with OI of 4,763 contracts.

As of this writing, Joseph Hargett did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2015/11/tuesdays-vital-data-facebook-inc-fb-synchrony-financial-syf-twitter-inc-twtr-options/.

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