Unsual CALL options activity in several gold miners

[swissaustrian]

Some players are betting aggressively on price appreciation in mid-tier gold mining companies:

NovaGold Resources (NG) 4900 July 6 calls bought in chunks for USD 0.85-0.95 vs. an open interest of 1908

- the call/put ratio is 184:1, total option volume is twice that of the daily average so far

Similar mining stocks with unusual option activity noticed in recent weeks:

- May 16th: IAMGOLD (IAG) 4000 June 9/11 call vertical bought for USD 0.75 exceeding open interest in both strikes

- May 16th: Eldorado Gold Corp (EGO) 2400 June 10/12 call vertical bought for USD 0.75

- May 16th: McEwen Mining (MUX) 1400 June 2.50 calls bought in chunks on the offer for USD 0.20 vs. an open interest of 151

- May 17th: AuRico Gold Inc. (AUQ) 3500 June 7 calls bought for USD 0.50-0.70 vs. open interest of 1309
- May 22nd: Seabridge Gold (SA) 17,600 January’13 15 LEAP calls bought in chunks for USD 1.45-1.80 vs. an open interest of 338 ahead of earnings on June 7th 2012

http://ransquawk.com/headlines/227027

 

[DCFusor]

Cheap crapshoot?

 

[ancona]

sounds more like inside information to me. I wonder if the buyers are the same people or entities?

 

[swissaustrian]

sounds more like inside information to me. I wonder if the buyers are the same people or entities?

This information is not public, my guess is that the short term calls (june) are insiders ahead of earnings season. The calls on Seabridge (SA) stick out because they're longer dated (january 13). That's probably an outsider who likes the company.