RE: $17 today Trade Alert data show 40,000 calls and 9,468 puts changed hands in the first 45 minutes of trade.
The Weekly $16 and $16.50 strike calls, expiring on May 3, are among the most actives. "The May $16, Weekly $14, and June $15 strike calls also seeing some interest," said WhatsTrading.com options strategist Frederic Ruffy. "The stock saw relative strength on positive comments from Jefferies yesterday." BlackBerry has been a great beta trade for some time, and option traders are looking for the smartphone maker to spike much higher, said Pete Najarian, co-founder of optionMonster in a posting on the firm's website. OptionMonster's tracking systems on Monday detected interest in the Sept $27 strike calls, which were bought for 22 cents. "That's a crazy high strike for a stock that closed the session at $15.61, up 3.93 percent," Najarian said. On Monday, a total of 120,000 calls and 45,000 puts crossed the tape, according to Trade Alert.