FL - Foot Locker Inc. – Shares in Foot Locker are down sharply today, off 6.5% at $35.17 as of 12:30 p.m. ET, amid a down day for U.S. stocks. The stock yesterday reached a new 52-week high of $37.85. Traders bracing for shares in the name to potentially slide further ahead of the company’s second-quarter earnings report expected out later this month appear to be buying up August expiry put options on the stock. The Aug $35 strike puts are the most actively traded by volume thus far in the session, with upwards of 6,200 contracts in play versus open interest of 744 put options. It looks like one strategist purchased a block of 5,000 of the $35 puts during the first hour of the trading day at a premium of $0.45 each. The bearish, or perhaps protective, stance makes money at expiration next week in the event that FL shares decline another 1.7% to settle below the breakeven point on the downside at $34.55. In the money put options are also attracting volume, with around 2,900 of the Aug $36 strike puts purchased in the early going for an average premium of $0.95 apiece. Overall options volume on Foot Locker in excess of 15,000 contracts this afternoon is well above the stock’s average daily volume of around 2,300 contracts.
FOSL - Fossil Group, Inc. – Front month calls on watch and accessories maker, Fossil Group, are changing hands at a clip today, with shares in the name up better than 18% at a new 52-week high of $127.32 as of 12:15 p.m. in New York. The stock jumped after the company posted better than expected second-quarter earnings and raised its estimates for full year earnings and revenue. Shares earlier in the session reached $129.25,…
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