Whiting Petroleum In Depth

Late Friday, there was a surge in call option activity in Whiting Petroleum WLL.  WLL has been mentioned lately as a takeover candidate.

Usually the out of the money put volatility is always higher than the out of the money call volatility. This is referred to as the “skew”. If charted, a skew usually looks like a “smile”, with longer and higher “smile” on the left, representing the higher put volatility.

higher “smile” on the right, indicating call buying pressure.

Here is  the WLL skew chart on Friday.