The most popular front-month AAPL call is the December 400 strike, where 28, 876 contracts currently reside.
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Peak front-month call open interest, meanwhile, numbers 3, 905 contracts at the November 57.50 strike.
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In the front-month series of options, the out-of-the-money November 26 and 27 strikes are most heavily populated.
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Overall, peak front-month put open interest resides at the out-of-the-money November 14 strike, totaling a hefty 75, 196 contracts.
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The heaviest accumulation of calls in the front-month November series can be found at the out-of-the-money 95 strike, numbering 2, 830 contracts.
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In fact, peak put open interest in the front-month series rests at the October 90 strike, with more than 30, 900 contracts outstanding.
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In the front-month November series (contracts expiring on the 19th), peak call open interest resides at the 15 strike, totaling 13, 016 contracts.
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The September 24 strike carries peak front-month call open interest of 12, 214 contracts, while the September 25 call has 8, 142 contracts outstanding.
With very little time until expiration, front-month options activity is especially speculative.
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Front-month gold contracts, set to expire July 27, rose to an all-time high before dropping marginally to 41, 600 by 11:47 AM in New York.
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Peak November call open interest totals 5, 054 contracts at the 130 strike, while peak front-month put open interest numbers 6, 003 contracts at the 80 strike.
For instance, in the front-month January 2012 series of options, call open interest numbers 107, 848 contracts, compared to put open interest of 99, 254 contracts.
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Digging a bit deeper reveals that peak front-month put open interest of 5, 319 contracts lies at the deep out-of-the-money July 38 strike.
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In the soon-to-be front-month January series of options, the out-of-the-money 11 and 12.50 strikes are most popular, boasting roughly 10, 250 and 47, 250 calls outstanding, respectively.
As I have said in this space before, front-month options activity is especially speculative, given that these contracts expire in less than two weeks on Oct. 22.
On the call side, peak front-month open interest totals 13, 771 contracts at the out-of-the-money November 31 strike, while another 12, 594 contracts reside at the November 30 strike.
Digging deeper, we find that peak put open interest in the front-month January 2013 series rests at the 10 strike, with more than 386, 000 puts in residence.
This hedge would most likely be done by shorting 10 front-month futures contracts on NYMEX (of 10, 000 barrels each)--thus balancing out the long position with a short one.
Implieds for AA options are elevated at 68%, but they are not excessively bid up compared to historical volatility, which rests at 51% for front-month options.
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Digging even deeper, we find that the overhead December 28 strike is home to peak call open interest in the front-month series, with almost 5, 500 contracts in residence.
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In the November series of options, which assumes front-month status after the closing bell today, the out-of-the-money 19 and 20 strikes are most popular, with roughly 11, 800 and 17, 400 open puts, respectively.
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Plus, in the soon-to-be front-month series, peak put open interest of nearly 4, 600 contracts can be found at the deep out-of-the-money December 180 strike, pointing to expectations for a significant short-term slide.
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Taking a look at the front-month series, we find peak call open interest at the out-of-the-money November 44 strike, totaling 4, 879 contracts, while another 4, 424 contracts are open at the November 43 strike.
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Taking a closer look reveals that peak front-month call open interest of 10, 878 contracts resides at the overhead May 150 strike, more than doubling peak May put open interest of 4, 911 contracts at the out-of-the-money 135 strike.
While it would take additional data to confirm, I suspect (based on technicals that I will get to in a moment) that this activity represents options traders closing out front-month February calls in favor of back-month March calls.
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The result is that professional traders front-run it each month in the pre-announced couple of days before the ETF rolls over its positions into the new front month.
It looks like plain-vanilla call buying is the most popular tactic with Monster-bulls populating the front month.
Peter Hart, 39, was headbutted and punched in front of his wife and 16-month-old son as he was leaving music festival Guilfest on 13 July.
Walder's conversion edged Wasps 17-16 in front, leaving Gloucester needing to rediscover their composure as their 10-month unbeaten home league record came under serious threat.
Speculative bullish activity is heaviest in the front month, with deep out-of-the-money calls seeing the most volume.
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