Time For Japan? Options Market Says Yes

Is the sun going to rise again for Japan? A tough question to answer to be sure, but if the options market is any indication, things may be starting to look up for the downtrodden, yet still powerful Asian economy. Year-to-date, the iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund

is up 8%, impressive when considering the state of economic affairs in Japan, but not impressive when measured against almost every other ETF tracking an Asian country has done better. Well maybe, just maybe, EWJ's ready to bounce. A single trade of 50,000 January 2012 $11 calls to buy the iShares MSCI Japan Index Fund helped boost volume for the bullish contracts to 10 times the four-week average and 15 times the number of puts to sell on Friday, according to Bloomberg News. Options volume in EWJ on Friday worked to be 57,080 calls and 3,193 puts when all was said in done, perhaps indicating traders are betting on a strong 2011 for Japan, the land of the rising sun. EWJ is up 7% in the past three months and looks like a low-risk, medium-reward bet over the medium-term.