Puts Purchased in Smith International (SII)
May 21, 2010 1:12 PM
Shares of Smith International Inc. (NYSE: SII) are higher on the session by 1.62%, currently trading $40.04. The stock has been a relative outperformer over the past three months, though it is still trading below the 50-day moving average currently.
Options traders are buying protection in the name today with the June $36 puts purchased on the offer 5,000 times today. The trader paid $1.30 for the puts. It is possible that this was part of a put roll from the May $42 put, which has also traded over 5,000 contracts.
Either way, this spins a bearish thesis for the stock.
Smith International, Inc. is a provider of products and services used during the drilling, completion and production phases of oil and natural gas exploration and development activities.
