Someone with a lot of money to spend has taken a bearish stance on Vale (NYSE:VALE).
And retail traders should know.
We noticed this today when the big position showed up on publicly available options history that we track here at Benzinga.
Whether this is an institution or just a wealthy individual, we don't know. But when something this big happens with VALE, it often means somebody knows something is about to happen.
So how do we know what this whale just did?
Today, Benzinga's options scanner spotted 10 uncommon options trades for Vale.
This isn't normal.
The overall sentiment of these big-money traders is split between 30% bullish and 70%, bearish.
Out of all of the special options we uncovered, 4 are puts, for a total amount of $215,174, and 6 are calls, for a total amount of $379,013.
What's The Price Target?
Taking into account the Volume and Open Interest on these contracts, it appears that whales have been targeting a price range from $15.0 to $22.0 for Vale over the last 3 months.
Volume & Open Interest Development
Looking at the volume and open interest is a powerful move while trading options. This data can help you track the liquidity and interest for Vale's options for a given strike price. Below, we can observe the evolution of the volume and open interest of calls and puts, respectively, for all of Vale's whale trades within a strike price range from $15.0 to $22.0 in the last 30 days.
Vale Option Volume And Open Interest Over Last 30 Days
Biggest Options Spotted:
| Symbol | PUT/CALL | Trade Type | Sentiment | Exp. Date | Strike Price | Total Trade Price | Open Interest | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VALE | PUT | TRADE | NEUTRAL | 01/19/24 | $20.00 | $124.0K | 616 | 205 |
| VALE | CALL | TRADE | BULLISH | 09/16/22 | $22.00 | $80.4K | 3.7K | 0 |
| VALE | CALL | TRADE | NEUTRAL | 01/20/23 | $15.00 | $71.0K | 40.4K | 569 |
| VALE | CALL | TRADE | BEARISH | 01/20/23 | $15.00 | $70.0K | 40.4K | 261 |
| VALE | CALL | SWEEP | BEARISH | 09/16/22 | $20.00 | $59.5K | 3.7K | 676 |
Where Is Vale Standing Right Now?
- With a volume of 15,510,696, the price of VALE is down -5.03% at $17.52.
- RSI indicators hint that the underlying stock may be oversold.
- Next earnings are expected to be released in 6 days.
What The Experts Say On Vale:
- Morgan Stanley downgraded its action to Equal-Weight with a price target of $22
- Deutsche Bank downgraded its action to Hold with a price target of $22
- RBC Capital has decided to maintain their Sector Perform rating on Vale, which currently sits at a price target of $20.
Options are a riskier asset compared to just trading the stock, but they have higher profit potential. Serious options traders manage this risk by educating themselves daily, scaling in and out of trades, following more than one indicator, and following the markets closely.
