Key points:
- Market whales are big investors who can move the market with their actions.
- They recently made some unusual bets on IBM options, which are contracts that give them the right to buy or sell IBM stock at a certain price and date.
- The market whales have different opinions about IBM's future, but most of them are not very positive.
- Some of these bets involve prices between $100.0 and $200.0 for IBM stock, which is the range where the market whales think it will go.
Read from source...
- The title is misleading and clickbait. It implies that some mysterious or powerful entities called "market whales" are making massive bets on IBM options, but it does not define who they are or why they are relevant to the readers.
- The article uses vague terms like "uncommon", "split between", "isn't normal", and "this isn't something we see every day". These phrases do not provide any quantitative or objective data to support the claims, but rather appeal to curiosity and fear of missing out.
- The article relies heavily on Benzinga's own options scanner tool, which is not verified or validated by any external sources. It also does not disclose how the tool works, what parameters it uses, or how accurate it is. This creates a conflict of interest and undermines the credibility of the findings.
- The article presents no clear or logical explanation for why these options trades indicate that "somebody knows something" about IBM's future performance. It does not consider alternative scenarios, such as hedging, speculation, arbitrage, or random noise. It also does not provide any evidence of insider trading or illegal activity.
- The article shows a lack of understanding of options contracts and their implications. For example, it confuses puts and calls, which are opposite types of options that give the holder different rights and obligations. It also uses the terms "bullish" and "bearish" without defining them or explaining how they relate to IBM's stock price and options value.
- The article fails to distinguish between volume and open interest, which are two separate concepts in options trading. Volume measures the number of contracts exchanged in a given period, while open interest measures the outstanding positions held by market participants at a certain point in time. These indicators can have different meanings and implications depending on the context and the underlying assets.
- The article uses outdated and irrelevant data for evaluating price movements and liquidity. It refers to a three-month span that does not reflect the current market conditions or the recent performance of IBM's stock and options. It also compares different strike prices without explaining how they affect the option premiums and the breakeven points for the traders.