Options Trading News

Traders are counting on a floor beneath shares of O'Reilly Automotive as the car industry shows signs of improvement.

More than 4,000 November 80 puts were sold for prices ranging from $2.80 to $3, according to optionMONSTER's systems, compared with a daily average of just 3 contracts. Open interest in the strike was 695 contracts at the start of the session, so these are clearly new positions.

These put sellers are betting that ORLY will be above the $80 strike price at expiration in mid-November, at which point they would collect the premium as profit. The traders also face the possibility of being required to buy the shares if they fall below that level, though the purchase price would be around $77. (See our Education section)

ORLY fell 0.49 percent on Friday to close at $83.25. Shares of the auto-parts retailer have been on a wild ride, spiking above $107 in May and gapping below $78 in June, but they recently have settled back into a range from early this year.

Total option volume in the name was 6,137 on Friday, more than 10 times its average of 584 contracts a day for the last month.