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• Index, ETF option volumes near midday
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• X 81% Rate It

U.S. Steel has been rebounding from a big drop, and one investor is still wary of the name.

optionMONSTER's Depth Charge monitoring system detected the purchase of 13,500 October 23 puts for $1.59 and the sale of an equal number of October 20 puts for $0.67. Volume was below open interest in the 20s but not the 23s, which indicates that an existing position was rolled from one strike the other.

The trade cost $0.92 and raised by $3 the level at which the investor has the right to sell shares. He or she is probably a stockholder looking to hedge exposure to the company, but could also be a speculative bear betting on lower prices.

Alternatively, the trade could be a new bearish put spread , which would also reflect a belief that X could push lower. (See our Education section)

The stock is up 1.67 percent to $23.58 in early afternoon trading. It's up 15 percent in the last month as investors hunt for bargains in beaten-down metals space but is still 23 percent below its levels from early February.

Overall option volume in X is almost twice the average amount so far today, with puts outnumbering calls by 3 to 1.

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