Monday, February 15, 2010

Bearish Bets Against Four Regional Banks (FITB, CMA, ZION, STI)

On Thursday, Feb 11, at least one trader put on large bear vertical put spreads on four regional banks.  Here is the tally:


Fifth Third Bank (FITB):
- Bought to open 5,850 contracts of May $11 puts for $0.95 debit (bid $0.91 x ask $0.93)
- Sold to open 5,850 contracts of May $9 puts for $0.34 credit (bid $0.33 x ask $0.35)


Comerica (CMA):
- Bought to open 4,954 contracts of April $32.50 puts for $1.53 debit (bid $1.40 x ask $1.55)
- Sold to open 4,954 contracts of April $27.50 puts for $0.43 credit (bid $0.40 x ask $0.55) 


Zions Bancorp (ZION):
- Bought to open 12,400 contracts of April $17 puts for $1.35 debit (bid $1.30 x ask $1.40)
- Sold to open 12,400 contracts of April $13 puts for $0.35 credit (bid $0.35 x ask $0.40)


SunTrust Banks (STI):
- Bought to open 4,000 contracts of April $22 puts for $1.58 debit (bid $1.55 x ask $1.58)
- Sold to open 4,000 contracts of April $18 puts for $0.48 credit (bid $0.47 x ask $0.50)


A few important points:
1. All trades were placed on Thursday, June 11 between 11:00am EST and 11:27am EST
2. The volume on all strikes was higher than open interest, clearly implying opening positions
3. All strikes were out-of-money at the time trades were executed


All four of these stocks are sitting somewhere between their 52-week highs and 50-day MA.  If these trades are not done for hedging long positions, but rather represent outright bearishness on the sector, then it appears the trader is looking for a retest of 200-day MA over next few months.  The MACD of all four stocks is declining and registering negative bias.   


Something to keep an eye on over next few days/weeks to see if put buying continues to build for further confirmation.