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Tuesday Options Screener: XLF, GM, LM

A look at some unusual options activity in this afternoon’s screener.

Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) - the financial sector ETF fell below $20 for the first time this year to hit a new 52-week intra-day low of $19.57 before rallying to get into positive territory at $20.40. There is some interesting positioning going on in the options for the month of August. So far, approx. 199,000 call options have traded or nearly 4x the 55,000 contract volume for the puts. Heavy call volume is concentrated in the calls ranging from $20 all the way up to the deeper out of the money strike at $23.

General Motors Corp. (GM) – the automaker has now reversed earlier losses after falling close to a more than fifty year low of $10.71 following a report that U.S. sales fell just 8.3%, much less than the 19.3% industry analysts had expected. The stock is now up about 2.6% to $11.79. There has been a rush to pick up $12.50 July calls, nearly 22,068 contracts have traded, more than the open interest in that particularly strike and about two-thirds the total put volume for that month.

Legg Mason Inc. (LM) – newswires are abuzz about the possibility of a debt rating downgrade. The stock has tried to rally with the broader market but looks to still close down more than 5% at $41 a share. Put activity is quite active – 6,174 at the $45 strike and 7,589 contract volume at the $40 strike. July call volume on the otherhand is virtually non-existant.

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