Options Trading News

Dole Foods is up big this summer, and one trader sees no going back.

optionMONSTER's tracking programs detected steady selling in the September 12.50 calls throughout Friday's session. Almost 2,900 changed hands, all of them for $0.40, against previous open interest of just 503 contracts.

The investor is now obligated to buy shares of the fruit and vegetable company for $12.50 if they close below that level on expiration. If they remain above, he or she will keep the premium and the options will expire worthless.

DOLE rose 1.74 percent to $12.88, and is up 47 percent in the last two months. Most of those gains came after the company reported strong earnings on July 19 and announced it may spin off its packaged-foods business.

Traders often sell puts when they like a company but don't want to buy shares at the current level. The strategy is popular because it lets them make some money from the premium, while programming a buy order at a lower price. See our Education Section for more on how calls and puts can be used to manage risk.

Overall option volume was 8 times greater than average in the session.