EBay Puts at Record as Confidence Falls Before Holidays: Options

EBay Inc. options traders are paying the most ever to speculate on declines as U.S. consumer confidence at a two-year low threatens holiday sales.

Contracts that pay should the largest online marketplace fall were priced 9.49 points higher than comparable calls on Nov. 4, a record and double the 4.57 median since 2005, implied volatility data compiled by Bloomberg show. The relationship known as skew, based on three-month options 10 percent above and below the stock price, has risen from 4.51 in July.