siamo pare sotto attacco SHORT!
Human Genome Sciences (HGSI) experienced a flurry of put volume last Friday. Traders on the International Securities Exchange (ISE) bought to open 3,082 puts during the course of the session, compared to just 224 calls. In other words, puts were approximately 14 times more popular than their bullish counterparts.
In fact, HGSI's puts have rarely been in greater demand on the ISE. The equity's 10-day ISE put/call volume ratio of 0.66 ranks higher than 81.2% of other such readings taken during the past year.
Most of Friday's activity was focused on HGSI's in-the-money July 5 put, where 4,067 contracts crossed the tape on open interest of 16. Most of these puts traded at or near the ask price, suggesting that traders on Friday were initiating new bearish bets on HGSI. This strike now carries 4,004 contracts, establishing it as the site of peak put open interest for July.
The day's bearish bias might have been inspired by a downgrade, as ThinkEquity on Friday cut HGSI from "accumulate" to "source of funds." The stock's weak technical performance might have also prompted a rush for puts -- currently, the shares are pulling back after being rejected last week at their 50-week moving average.