TGT - Target Corp. – Weekly call buyers homed in on Target Corp. options during morning trading on Tuesday, a sign some traders are positioning for shares in the name to extend gains in the near term. The stock is trading up 1.7% at $72.23 just before midday in New York, after earlier rallying as much as 2.4% to a new all-time high of $72.77. Target’s shares have gained more than 25% since this time last year. The most active weekly contracts in play on TGT during the first half of the session are the Jun 07 ’13 $72.5 strike calls, with upwards of 1,800 contracts in play versus open interest of 640 contracts. It looks like most of the calls were purchased near the open for an average premium of $0.40 each, thus positioning buyers to profit at expiration in the event that shares settle above the average breakeven price of $72.90. Time and sales data indicates that the $72.5 weekly calls attracted buyers yesterday as well. On Monday around 600 of the $72.5 calls appear to have been purchased for an average premium of $0.11 apiece. Traders paying $0.11 per contract yesterday are seeing sizable overnight gains, with premium on the call options currently up four-fold at $0.48 each as of 12:10 p.m. ET.
ONNN - ON Semiconductor Corp. – Shares in ON Semiconductor rose 2.8% to a new 52-week high of $8.73 on Tuesday morning, extending the more than 30% upside move in the price of the underlying since this time last year. Options changing hands on ONNN in the early going today suggests at least one trader is positioning for shares to falter during the next four months. The buyer of roughly 900 puts at the Oct $7.0 strike for a premium of $0.25 apiece during the first 15 minutes of the session may be securing downside protection to hedge a position in the underlying shares, or may be initiating an outright bearish stance on ONNN through October expiration.…
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