The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc (IPG) is a global advertising and marketing company. Shares of IPG are currently trading around $17.85 in a 52 week range of $13.67-$18.00. The stock has been relatively flat this year with shares gaining only 0.9% year to date. Options traders seem to be expecting a move higher however, as orders hitting the tape today are very bullish. Earlier this morning a trader bought 6,000 IPG Jul 20 Calls for $0.20. This trade is nearly 5 times the average daily volume in IPG. With shares of IPG trading above the Ichimoku Cloud this order flow could be signaling for a long opportunity in IPG.

Block Trade: Trader bought the IPG Jul 20 Calls for $0.20
Risk: $20 per 1 lot
Reward: Unlimited
Breakeven: $20.20

The Kroger Co. (KR) is a food retail and distribution company in the United States. The company’s stock is currently trading around $46.73 in a 52 week range of $32.77-$46.80. The stock has been massively outperforming the market this year with shares of KR rallying more than 18% year to date. Order flow in the options market during today’s trading session has been decidedly bullish indicating that traders think this trend will continue. Earlier this morning a trader bought 7,610 KR May 47 Calls for $0.30. This is a very bullish trade requiring the trader to lay out nearly $230,000 in capital. This was labeled as an opening position and the short time to expiration suggests this trader has a higher level of conviction in KR. With stock trading well above the Ichimoku Cloud KR could be setting up well for a long here.

Block Trade: Trader bought 7,610 KR May 47 Calls for $0.30
Risk: $30 per 1 lot
Reward: Untitled
Breakeven: $47.30

CenturyLink, Inc (CTL) is a telecommunications company providing services to a wide range of customers. The company’s stock is currently trading around $36.70 in a 52 week range of $27.93-$37.22. Shares of CTL have been doing well this year with stock rallying more than 15.25% year to date. Options traders seem to think this trend will continue as blocks hitting the tape today are decidedly bullish. Earlier this morning a trader bought 6,273 Jun 38 calls for $0.30. This is a very bullish trade that is most likely a speculative long as stock hits new 52 week highs. Shares of CTL are also trading above the Ichimoku Cloud, indicating they are in bullish territory. With a strong chart set up and bullish order flow CTL could be setting up well for a long here.

Block Trade: Trader bought 6,273 CTL Jun 38 Calls for $0.30
Risk: $30 per 1 lot
Reward: Unlimited
Breakeven: $38.30

Activision, Inc. (ATVI) is a publisher of interactive entertainment products across a number of different platforms. The stock is seeing a nice move higher today on the back of better than expected quarterly earnings released after the bell yesterday. The stock is currently trading around $20.55 up nearly 6.5% on the day. The stock has been in a 52 week range of $13.27-$21.50 and is approaching its 52 week highs in trading today. Options order flow has been bullish in the name suggesting traders believe the stock is make new highs through June expiration. Earlier this morning a trader bought 3,807 ATVI Jun 23 Calls for $0.13. This is a rather aggressive trade and although cheap calls are sometimes referred to as “lottery tickets” this trade sets up well on a risk vs. reward basis. ATVI is also near breakout levels on the Ichimoku Cloud, further supporting a long case.

My Trade: I bought the ATVI Jun 23 Calls for $0.13
Risk: $13 per 1 lot
Reward: Unlimited
Breakeven: $23.13

Hologic, Inc. (HOLX) manufactures diagnostics products and medical imaging systems. The company’s stock is currently trading around $23.95 in a 52 week range of $18.45-$23.98. The stock has been doing relatively well this year with shares rallying over 7.25% year to date. Options traders are looking for continuation of this trend as orders hitting the tape today have been decidedly bullish. Earlier this morning a trader bought 1,417 HOLX Sep 26 Calls for $0.75. This is a bullish trade with the stock trading above the Ichimoku Cloud, indicating this is most likely a speculative long bet. Stock is also making new 52 week highs today, also decreasing the odds of this trade being a hedge. With a strong technical picture and bullish order flow it seems that HOLX is setting up for a long here.

My Trade: I bought the HOLX Sep 26 Calls for $0.80
Risk: $80 per 1 lot
Reward: Unlimited
Breakeven: $26.75

salesforce.com, inc (CRM) is a cloud computing and enterprise solutions company providing customers with customer relationship management applications and software. The company’s stock is currently trading around $53.20 in a 52 week range of $36.09-$67.00. The stock has been underperforming the market this year with shares falling around 3.55% year to date.  Despite this relative weakness in CRM options traders are bullish through May expiration as orders hitting the tape today are very strong. Earlier this morning several blocks of the CRM May 55 calls began hitting the tape. A trader bought 4,603 CRM May 55 Calls for $0.72, shortly after this order a trader bought another 3,143 of these calls for $0.85. Nearly 15,000 contracts have now traded on that line and will create the largest line of open interest in May. Although the stock is trading under the Ichimoku Cloud recent price action has been bullish. With order flow this strong CRM sets up well for a long position from a risk vs. reward perspective.

Block Trade: Trader Bought CRM May 55 Calls for $0.72
Risk: $72 per 1 lot
Reward: Unlimited
Breakeven: $55.72

B/E Aerospace, Inc. (BEAV) designs, manufactures, sells, and services cabin interior products for commercial aircraft and business jets in the United States and internationally. BEAV is currently trading around $98.64 in a 52 week range of $60.47-$100.25. The company’s stock has been underperforming the market this year with shares falling year to date. Options traders were aggressively bullish last week as a trader bought 3206 BEAV May 90 Calls for $.70 debit on Wednesday April 30th, 2014. Let’s breakdown their risk and how they profited $2,670,000 or 1000% Returns in less than a week.

Yesterday a trader bought 3206 BEAV May 90 Calls for $.70 debit.
Cash Outlay: $69,600

Greeks of this Trade:
Delta: Long
Gamma: Long
Theta: Short
Vega: Long

Today these Calls are trading $9.00, so let’s look at their profit:

$9.00- $.70 * 100 * 3206= $2,670,000

Unusual Option Activity:

We define unusual option activity as large block trades that represent a large percentage of daily option volume. The block trade is considered “unusual” if the option volume is above the average daily volume over the past 22 days. At KeeneOnTheMarket.com we scan and analyze order flow from all of the major options exchanges in order to identify any unusual option activity.

Analyzing unusual order flow gives traders a window into what the positions that large institutional players have. The majority of unusual option activity can be traced back to hedge funds, mutual funds, and other large institutions. Knowing where these institutions are placing their bets can be hugely advantageous for any trader. These institutions have informational and technological advantages that the average trader doesn’t have, and the amount of time and analysis that goes into every one of their trades is substantial. We offer this service through our 7 hour daily LIVE trading room http://bit.ly/135QWt8 or through Premium Twitter feed with all entries, exits, and unusual options activity tweeted all day long: http://bit.ly/11f0L9u.

Order flow can however at times be deceiving. One might logically thing that a large block buyer of calls is bullish on the underlying. This is not always the case. Remember that a large number of participants in the equity options market are hedgers. Long calls are a hedge against short stock, and long puts are a hedge against long stock. With this in mind we have developed a 7 step trading plan that helps filter out unusual option activity that will not provide actionable trade setups. It is by using this plan that we are able to identify the most significant unusual options activity trades every day.

Full Disclaimer: I was long these Calls today and I have no position still on

Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP (BWP), through its subsidiaries, provides transportation, storage, gathering, and processing services for natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). BWP is currently trading around $15.99 in a 52 week range of $11.99-$33.00. The company’s stock has been underperforming the market this year with shares falling year to date. Options traders seem to think that this trend will reverse as order flow in BWP has been decidedly bullish during today’s trading session. Earlier today a trader bought 100,000 BWP JAN 2017 17.5 Calls for $1.35. This is an extremely bullish order and involves this trader laying out $13.5 Million in total premium. This is the largest nominal value premium I have ever seen in this stock and possibly the whole year. This makes me believe that the stock is going to move higher between now and the end of Jan 2015.

Unusual Option Activity:

We define unusual option activity as large block trades that represent a large percentage of daily option volume. The block trade is considered “unusual” if the option volume is above the average daily volume over the past 22 days. At KeeneOnTheMarket.com we scan and analyze order flow from all of the major options exchanges in order to identify any unusual option activity.

Analyzing unusual order flow gives traders a window into what the positions that large institutional players have. The majority of unusual option activity can be traced back to hedge funds, mutual funds, and other large institutions. Knowing where these institutions are placing their bets can be hugely advantageous for any trader. These institutions have informational and technological advantages that the average trader doesn’t have, and the amount of time and analysis that goes into every one of their trades is substantial. We offer this service through our 7 hour daily LIVE trading room http://bit.ly/135QWt8 or through Premium Twitter feed with all entries, exits, and unusual options activity tweeted all day long: http://bit.ly/11f0L9u.

Order flow can however at times be deceiving. One might logically thing that a large block buyer of calls is bullish on the underlying. This is not always the case. Remember that a large number of participants in the equity options market are hedgers. Long calls are a hedge against short stock, and long puts are a hedge against long stock. With this in mind we have developed a 7 step trading plan that helps filter out unusual option activity that will not provide actionable trade setups. It is by using this plan that we are able to identify the most significant unusual options activity trades every day.

Full Disclosure: I am long the BWP Jan 2015 17.5 Calls

NIKE, Inc (NKE) designs, markets and sells footwear, athletic apparel and accessories around the world. The company’s stock is currently trading around $73.15 in a 52 week range of $59.11-$80.26. The stock has been underperforming the broader market this year with shares falling just over 7% year to date. Despite the stocks weakness this year options traders have been making bullish bets on the stock during today’s trading session. Earlier this morning a trader bought 2,430 NKE Jun 75 calls for $0.87. This is a bullish trade that requires this trader to lay out more than $210,000 in capital. Although shares of NKE are trading below the Ichimoku Cloud, indicating a bearish chart, the future cloud is sideways rather than downward sloping. This sideways cloud formation would suggest the stock is actually in neutral territory. While not the most bullish set up on a chart, this order flow could be signaling some further upside in NKE.

My Trade: I bought the NKE Jun 75 Calls for $0.93
Risk: $93 per 1 lot
Reward: Unlimited
Breakeven: $75.93

The St. Joe Company (JOE) is a real estate developer in Florida. The company’s stock is currently trading around $19.55 in a 52 week range of $16.82-$23.28. The stock has been relatively sideways this year with shares falling by only 0.26% year to date. Options traders are expecting the stock to move higher as orders hitting the tape today are decidedly bullish.  Early in this morning’s session a trader bought 1,500 JOE May 20 calls for $0.325. This is a very bullish trade that will create the largest line of open interest at any strike in JOE. This block also represents the largest order to hit the tape in JOE on a day where options volume is 18 times the average daily volume. With shares of JOE breaking the Ichimoku Cloud to the upside it seems likely this trader is speculating on further upside rather than hedge against a short stock position.

Block Trade: A Trader bought 1,500 JOE May 20 Calls for $0.325
Risk: $32.50 per 1 lot
Reward: Unlimited
Breakeven: $20.325