Huge Put Volume on The Tech Sector (XLK)

Shares of the Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund XLK are lower on the session by 0.42%, currently trading at $21.26. The ETF has been moving largely lower over the past four months; it, along with the rest of the market, is at a critical pivot point. Within the next week, either a new bull or new bear trend will be established. Options traders are flocking to the puts today on the XLK with two large trades dominating the volume. The September $21/18 1x3 put spread was purchased for a net debit $0.25; this was executed 5,900 by 11,800 times. Though volume was not enough to surpass open interest, this appears to be an opening position. Eight minutes after the above 1x2 traded, the October $21 put was purchased 14,000 times, near the offer, for $0.71. this is clearly new positioning, given that there is no open interest on the strike. Put volume is running at 3.65x the daily average. The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund seeks to correspond generally to the performance, before fees and expenses, of publicly traded equities of companies in the technology economic sector. The fund typically invests at least 95% of assets in companies of the technology sector. The fund's sector includes companies from the following industries: Internet and IT services, software, computers, peripherals, electronics, semiconductor equipment, and a variety of telecommunication products. It is nondiversified. For more great research like this, as well as how to play it through options…please visit Benzinga’s Options & Volatility Edge and Benzinga’s Cash Generator.