Sony Corporation (ADR) (SNE) Options Active As Shares Hit Fresh 52-Week High

Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) – Big prints in Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) call and put options this morning pushed the consumer electronics maker onto our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner in the early going on Monday, with overall volume up above 21,000 contracts versus the stock’s average daily volume of roughly 8,000 contracts. Trading traffic in the June expiry options suggests one or more traders are near term bullish on the prospects for the price of the underlying shares. The stock is up nearly 5.0% on the day to stand at $18.78 as of 11:25 a.m. ET. The Jun $17 strike puts traded 8,900 times versus open interest of just 232 contracts during the first 20 minutes of the session. It looks like the puts were sold for a premium of $0.25 apiece. Similarly, roughly 2,090 of the Jun $16 strike puts appear to have been sold at the same time for a premium of $0.10 each. Maximum potential profits equal to premiums received on the transactions are available at June expiration as long as Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE)’s shares exceed the stated striking prices. Meanwhile, less than 10 minutes after the puts traded, roughly 5,800 of the Jun $19 strike calls were purchased for an average premium of $0.80 per contract. The calls make money at expiration should shares in Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) rally another 5.4% to surpass the average premium price of $19.80.

Enerplus Corp (USA) (NYSE:ERF) – Shares in North American independent energy company, Enerplus Corp (USA) (NYSE:ERF), are up more than 5.0% on Monday to stand at $15.84 as of 11:45 a.m. ET. The operator of oil and gas properties in Canada and the U.S. was upgraded to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform’ at Raymond James today. Options activity on Enerplus Corp (USA) (NYSE:ERF) this morning indicates at least one strategist is positioning for shares in the name to rally to the highest level since October of 2012 during the next couple of months. The July $17 strike calls have traded around 1,100 times as of midday in New York versus previously existing open interest of 50 contracts. It looks like most of the volume was purchased at the start of the session for a premium of $0.10 each. The bullish position makes money if shares in Enerplus Corp (USA) (NYSE:ERF) climb 8.0% to top $17.10 by July expiration. Shares in the energy company have increased 35% during the past six months.