Options Trading News

Put selling tops today's option activity in Petrobras, which bounced off a three-year low last week.

PBR is up 3.51 percent to trade at $19.74 after hitting $17.27 last Thursday, its lowest price since 2008. Shares of the Brazilian oil and natural-gas giant have been trending lower for the last 52 weeks after trading above $35 last July.

More than 31,000 PBR options trade, evenly split between calls and puts. That is about 50 percent above its daily average.

A trader sold one block of 5,000 January 19 puts for the bid price of $2.09 on a wide bid/ask spread, according to optionMONSTER's systems. The volume was more than 3 times the open interest, so it is a new position.

The trader selling puts is looking for PBR to hold above $19 through that January expiration. The trade has an initial bullish bias as it has a positive delta but can profit with shares anywhere above $16.91 at expiration. However, below $19 the trader does face assignment and the obligation to buy the stock. (See our Education section)