Paranoia pays way for junk-bond bull

By optionMONSTER March 21, 2012, 05:21:36 AM EDT

One investor wants to profit from paranoia with a remarkable trade in junk bonds.

optionMONSTER's Heat Seeker tracking program detected the purchase of 2,500 June 92 calls in the iShares iBoxx High-Yield Corporate Bond Fund for $0.35. An equal number of June 82 puts were sold for $0.40.

The amazing thing about the strategy is that the investor collected a small credit of $0.05, but under normal circumstances it should have cost him or her money. That's because HYG was at $90.79 when the transaction occurred, making the calls much closer to the money than the puts. Under normal circumstances that would make them more expensive.

It wasn't the case yesterday because the broader market appears to be much more worried about a drop in the HYG than a rally. As a result, implied volatility was 16 percent in the puts versus just 6 percent in the calls. (See our Education section for more on the factors that affect option valuations .)

Another consideration is that high-yield securities tend to move in the opposite direction as Treasuries. Given the improving economy and recent bearish activity in government bonds, some investors may therefore expect HYG to rally.

Overall option volume was triple the daily average yesterday. HYG closed at $90.76, off 0.08 percent in the session.




The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.


This article appears in: Investing, Options

Referenced Stocks: HYG



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