On Monday our Depth Charge tracking system detected buying in the July 62.50 puts for $0.35. The stock has pushed lower since then, and those contracts have almost tripled to $1.
Today the activity is shifting forward by one month as investors buy 1,700 August 60 puts for about $1.90 and sell an equal number of August 75 calls for $1. Volume is more than triple open interest at both strikes.
Today's trade is known as a collar strategy. It cost about $0.90 and will make money if the DVD-kiosk operator falls below $60 in the next five weeks. The investor is also obligated to sell shares for $75 if they go above that level, but the stock has never been above $72. (See our Education section)
CSTR is down 3.36 percent to $64.76 this morning but is up more than 40 percent so far this year amid excitement over its purchase of NCR's rivaling business unit. Last month, however, it warned that acquisition-related costs would hurt earnings. Full second-quarter results will be released on July 26.
Overall option volume is almost triple the daily average so far today, according to Depth Charge.
