Discover Financial Call-Options Trading Surges Before Earnings
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Discover Financial Services call-options trading jumped to triple the four-week average amid wagers that the payments processor whose stock has outperformed its three larger U.S. rivals this year will rally after its Dec. 16 earnings report.
More than 5,800 calls to buy the stock changed hands, 10 times the number of puts to sell, as of 11:30 a.m. in New York. Almost all off the volume was concentrated in December $20 calls, which traded 5,524 times today compared with 1,533 existing contracts before today. The stock rose 0.5 percent to $18.86. This month’s options expire at the close of trading on Dec. 17.