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.